Get Ready for happy new year 2020 With These Fascinating New Year's History Facts

The real story behind New year 2020 traditions across the world.

New Year celebrations are not new. The concept actually dates back to 2000 BC. The Mesopotamians used to celebrate New Year 2020!

1^st January as New Year was never a standard practice. Romans for instance celebrated March 1 as New Year. Some other cultures went for winter solstice or summer equinox happy new year 2020.

The Roman Catholic Church was the one to adopt 1^st January as New Year. Well, 1^st January as New Year was marked by Georgian Calendar.

1^st January was accepted as New Year in 46 BC by Julius Caesar. England and the American colonies of England adopted the date long time later in 1752.

The month of January derives its name from a two-faced God named Janus. Janus’ one face looked forward while the other looked backward.

When did New Year's Day become a holiday?

According to History, the earliest recorded celebration to honor the new year is believed to date back some 4,000 years — in 2,000 B.C. — to ancient Babylon happy new year 2020.

For these Mesopotamians, the beginning of the new year was heralded by the first new moon after the vernal equinox — which took place around late March — and was celebrated with a huge 11-day festival called Akitu, which involved a different ritual on each of its days. 

The holiday celebrated the mythical victory of the sky god Marduk over the sea goddess Tiamat, and also involved the act of either crowning a new king or allowing the old king to continue his rule. Either way, this 11-day festival would probably have put our current New Year's Eve parties to shame!

Why do we celebrate New Year's 2020 in January?

New Year's Day, also simply called New Year or New Year's, is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named happy new year 2020.

New Year is the time or day at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one.

Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner and the 1st day of January is often marked as a national holiday.

In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1 (New Year's Day).


It was also the first day of the year in the original Julian calendar and of the Roman calendar (after 153 BC)

During the Middle Ages in western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, authorities moved New Year's Day, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, including March 1, March 25, Easter, September 1, and December 25.

 Beginning in 1582, the adoptions of the Gregorian calendar has meant that many national or local dates in the Western World and beyond have changed to using one fixed date for New Year's Day, January 1 happy new year 2020.

How is New Year's 2020 celebrated around the world?

Today, the new year is celebrated in different ways all around the world — but in many countries, the holiday starts on the evening of December 31 and continues well into the early hours of January 1 happy new year 2020.

Australia - Celebrate the holiday during the peak of the summer. In Australia, they celebrate New Year’s Eve while the sun is shining bright. Fireworks mark the end of the new year, the most elaborate occurring at midnight in Sydney Harbor. The day is meant for relaxation, visiting family and friends, and if you have time, attending one of the many horse racing carnivals, parades, or summer fairs happy New year 2020.

South Africa - In South Africa, they’re all about out with the old and in with the new. During New Year’s Eve, it’s customary to throw old furniture out the window and into the street. This isn’t as heavily in practice today, instead being replaced with great firework displays and all-night parties. Cape Town in particular holds a special carnival with singing, dancing, bright clothes, and face paint happy New year 2020.

The Año Neuvo is a time of embracing renewal. This is marked by throwing buckets of water out the window and opening the front door to symbolically sweep out the old year. Families toss coins onto the ground and sweep them back into the house to encourage a prosperous future. Meanwhile, they attend decorative parties, parades, and festivals, complete with eye-catching fireworks and the traditional Latin American custom of burning scarecrows happy new year 2020.

Canada- People in Canada embrace similar celebrations as their American neighbors. This includes drinks, fireworks, and live music. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can also do the polar bear plunge, a tradition that involves going into freezing waters to raise money for charities. Of course, you can always visit Niagara Falls and enjoy the countdown by one of the country’s most famous landmarks happy new year 2020.

Brazil- Thankfully, the weather in Brazil is nice all year since people love to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the water. It’s considered good luck if you can jump over seven different waves while making wishes, one for each wave. Additionally, they enjoy fireworks on Rio de Janeiro’s shores while eating lentils, which signify wealth. The most popular color to wear is white as it is said to bring good luck and peace. Similar to Años Viejos, they burn life-sized dolls with face masks that represent bad events from the past year happy new year 2020.

Thailand – Even though it’s on the other side of the world, Thailand adopts the same custom of throwing water as in South American countries. However, their tradition also includes smearing each other with gray talc during Songkran. The talc represents the sins of the previous year with the water washing away all wrongdoings. The entire festival lasts for three days and includes lighting candles and incense at shrines. As in other countries, they also play games, eat traditional foods, and spend quality time with family happy new year 2020.

Why do we drop the ball on New Year's 2020 Eve?

That ball was inspired by the time balls used by 19th-century mariners to calibrate their chronometers. Until 1907, no ball had been used to ring in the New Year. ... Since that first ball drop, the idea of dropping objects to count down the New Year has become synonymous with the holiday.

We all know the iconic New Year's tradition of the ball-drop in New York City's Time Square as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve — but how exactly did this fascinating tradition in New Year's history come about? According to the official Times Square Ball website, the ball drop has been a tradition since 1907, with the first New Year's Eve Ball having been a 700-pound sphere made out of iron, wood, and 100 light bulbs. Seven different versions have been designed since then, with the ball having eventually evolved into the newest (and coolest) version that it is today: a brightly patterned orb covered with LED lamps and Waterford Crystal panels that weighs in at nearly 12,000 pounds happy new year 2020.