January 1 is always "New Years Day."
New Years Day Traditions
- First Foot Day marks the beginning of the New Year and is said to bring luck. Who dares to enter your home first on New Year's Day? Did you know that First Foot Day celebrates a tradition for many families in the US which has to do with who steps first in your house on this day? Yessss in deed! Visit First Foot Day to find out about it's traditions and customs.
- In England and Scotland an extra round of football fixtures is played (unless New Year's Day falls on a Friday or Sunday).
- In Pasadena, California, United States, the Tournament of Roses is held, with revelers viewing the parade from the streets and watching on television, followed by the Rose Bowl football game.
- The aforementioned Rose Bowl football game is one of several postseason bowl games played in college football in the United States (though in recent years it, due to its involvement in the BCS, has not always fallen on New Year's Day.
- In the United States it is traditional to eat blackeyed peas and hog jowls. It is believed the more you eat the more money you will have for the year.
- Vienna New Year Concert, in Austria.
- Traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians.
- Polar Bear Clubs: in many northern hemisphere cities near bodies of water, they will have a tradition of people plunging into the cold water on New Year's Day. The Coney Island Polar Bears Club in New York is the oldest cold-water swimming club in the United States. They have had groups of people enter the chilly surf since 1903.
- In Philadelphia, the Mummers Parade is held on Broad Street.
- Hindu New Year, which falls at the time and date Planet Sun enters Mesha
- Hindus celebrate the new year by paying respects to their Parents and other elders and seek their blessings. They also exchange tokens of Good Wishes (Kai Vishesham).
- Italian people welcome the New Year in an extremely interesting way, by tossing old things out of their windows! Old things are tossed out in an effort to make room for the new and lucky to enter their households and lives in the year to come.
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History of New Years
New Years Day was originally observed on March 15 in the old Roman Calendar, New Year's Day first came to be fixed at January 1 in 153 BC, when the two Roman consuls, after whom - in the Roman calendar - years were named and numbered, began to be chosen on that date, for military reasons. However in AD 525, Dionysius Exiguus set the start of the Julian calendar at March 25 to commemorate the Annunciation of Jesus; a variety of Christian feast dates were used throughout the Middle Ages to mark the New Year, while calendars often continued to display the months in columns running from January to December in the Roman fashion.
Among the 7th-century druidic pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands it was the custom to exchange gifts at the New Year, (learn more about gift giving and Holidays) a pagan custom deplored by Saint Eligius (died 659 or 660), who warned the Flemings and Dutchmen, "[Do not] make vetulas, [little figures of the Old Woman], little deer or iotticos or set tables [for the house-elf, compare Puck] at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks [another Yule custom]." The quote is from the vita of Eligius written by his companion Ouen.
Most countries in Western Europe officially adopted January 1 as New Year's Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. This is sometimes called Circumcision Style, because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision, being the eighth day counting from 25 December.
New Year's Day is the first day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar, falling exactly one week after Christmas Day of the previous year. In modern times, it is January 1. In most countries, it is a holiday. It is a holy day to many of those who still use the Julian calendar, which includes followers of some of the Eastern Orthodox churches, and is celebrated on January 14 of the Gregorian calendar due to differences between the two calendars. It is usually celebrated with fireworks.
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Ditch Your New Years Resolution Day
Ohhhh my! Yes there is a Holiday set a side for us called
"Ditch Your New Years Resolution Day." This Holiday is always on January 17th. The reason for this holiday is so you can ditch all those resolutions that you made on New Years Eve because by now your going to know if there going to fly or not. You know.... all the ones you've already broken.
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More January Holidays
The Month of January is : National Oatmeal Month, Book Blitz Month, Celebration of Life Month, Cervical Cancer Screening Month, Family Fit Lifestyle Month, Financial Fitness Month, International Creativity Month, International Life Balance Month, Jump Out of Bed Month, National Be-on-purpose Month, National Clean Up Your Computer Month, National Get Organized Month, National Glaucoma Awareness Month, National Mentoring Month, National Poverty Awareness in America Month, National Returns Month.
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