The tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions was started by the Babylonians. For them, the top resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment!
The new year didn’t always begin on January 1, which had been established as the first day of the year by Julius Caesar. The new year celebration was originally observed at the beginning of spring by the Babylonians 4,000 years ago.
The most popular New Year’s resolution in the United States today is to lose weight.
In Holland, people eat donuts on New Year’s Day because the round shape symbolizes a full circle of life from one year to the next.
The first New Year’s Eve ball in New York was 700 pounds, 5 feet in diameter, and made of wood and iron! The modern ball dropped is made from Waterford Crystal and weighs over 1,000 pounds!
Since its debut descent in 1907, the ball has dropped every year, except 2: in 1942 and 1943 because of wartime restrictions in New York City.
It is said that the first person you see in the new year will determine whether your year will be positive or negative.
“Auld Lang Syne”, a song that is synonymous with New Year’s Eve, was a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788. Translated, it means “long long ago”.
Here’s wishing you all an incredible New Year!