New Year’s Eve is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. Here in the Central Time Zone, Samoa and Christmas Island are the first to see the New Year at 4:00 AM December 31st and small islands such as Baker Island between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea are the last to ring in the new year at 6:00 AM January 1st.
Did you know that celebrating the new year didn’t start until around 2000 B.C. in Mesopotamia and it was celebrated in mid-March at the vernal equinox? Through history, the date of the New Year has changed many times from spring or fall equinoxes to days of religious significance. January 1st didn’t become instituted until 46 B.C. in the Roman empire with Julius Caesar introducing a solar-based calendar, the Julian calendar, which closely resembles our Gregorian calendar we use today.
Traditional foods to celebrate range from eating grapes for good luck, eating lentils or black-eyed-peas for financial success to consuming pork for progress and prosperity. Many celebrate by watching fireworks, singing “Auld Lang Syne”, and watching the ball drop at Times Square in New York City which has been a tradition since 1907.
How do you ring in the New Year? Do you have any family traditions? Have you made any resolutions for the coming year? Above all, be safe this New Year’s Eve if your tradition is to celebrate with friends and family. From all of us at De Hart Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
De Hart Plumbing Heating and Cooling, serving Manhattan Kansas, Junction City Kansas, Wamego Kansas, Topeka Kansas, and some surrounding areas. The New Year