May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions

Here’s a Brief Overview of New Year’s Celebrations

Although the New Year has been celebrated since prehistoric times, it was originally observed on the vernal equinox rather than on what we now consider the first day of the year. The Romans were the first to recognize New Year’s Day on January 1. Rather than tying the day to a significant astronomical or agricultural event, in 153 BC the Romans selected it for civil reasons: it was the day after elections, when newly elected officials assumed their positions.



Years later, Julius Caesar wanted to change the date to something more logical, but in that year - January 1, 45 BC - fell on a new moon. Changing it would have been considered bad luck. He did, however, reform the calendar itself, creating what became known as the Julian calendar, named in his honor. July, the month of Caesar’s birth, was also named after him to recognize his calendar reform. And look what it got him.



Up until 1582, Christian Europe continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on March 25. Pope Gregory XIII instituted additional calendar reforms, giving us the calendaring system still in use today. The Gregorian calendar was adopted immediately by Catholic countries, while the Reformists, suspicious of any papal policy, adopted it only after some time. Today, most countries around the world use this calendar.



From primitive times to the present, the New Year has been recognized as a day when rites were performed to abolish the past and allow for renewal in the year ahead. Rituals included purgations, purifications, exorcisms, extinguishing and rekindling fires, masked processions (with masks representing the dead), and similar activities. Often, exorcisms and purgations were accompanied by loud noise meant to scare away evil spirits. In China, Yin, the forces of light, battled Yang, the forces of darkness, with cymbals, noisemakers, and firecrackers.



Early European Americans brought New Year’s celebrations with them from their homelands. However, settlers noted that Native Americans already honored New Year’s Day with their own customs. These rituals coincided with those seen around the world, including fires, the expulsion of evil spirits, and communal celebrations. Today, many New Year’s celebrations begin with a countdown on the evening prior. It is customary to kiss your sweetheart when the clock strikes midnight, one of the enduring traditions of New Year’s Eve parties.



Around the world, different cultures have their own ways of welcoming the New Year. In Japan, people hang a rope of straw across the front of their houses to keep out evil spirits and bring happiness and good luck. They also greet the year with laughter to ensure a lucky start. In Argentina, people wear brand-new pink underwear to attract love. In Brazil, people wear none - which usually works better.



In Germany, every year on December 31, television networks broadcast an 18-minute skit in English called Dinner for One.



In 1963, Germany’s Norddeutscher Rundfunk television station recorded the sketch, performed by British comedians Freddie Frinton and May Warden. Since then, it has become a New Year’s Eve staple in Germany. The clip holds the Guinness World Record for Most Frequently Repeated TV Program, although Dinner for One has never been broadcast in the U.S. or Canada.



In Siberia, brave divers plant a New Year’s tree underneath frozen lakes—essentially a polar plunge with decorations. Much like a Christmas tree, the Siberian New Year tree (or yolka) is meant to signify the coming of Father Frost, while also symbolizing a fresh start. Jumping into a frozen lake is simply another addition to the year-end festivities.



In Italy, nothing says “Happy New Year” like red underwear. Red underpants are a staple of the Italian New Year’s tradition, rooted in centuries-old superstition that the color wards off bad luck and attracts good fortune. Even if you find yourself in Rome without a pair of rosy unmentionables, no worries—shops and street vendors have plenty for sale.



In South Africa, people throw appliances out of windows (watch out!). In Denmark, people break dishes for their friends. They save old plates all year just to hurl them by the dozen onto the doorsteps of family and friends on New Year’s Eve. In theory, the bigger the pile of broken dishes on your doorstep, the larger your circle of friends.



New Year’s resolutions are simply another way to wish away the past in exchange for hope for the future. This is where the phrase “turning over a new leaf” originated. I hope 2026 brings good health and better luck to all.

December 31st - Richard Hoffman

All my undone actions wander
naked across the calendar,
 
a band of skinny hunter-gatherers, blown snow scattered here and there,
 
stumbling toward a future folded in the New Year I secure
 
with a pushpin: January’s picture
a painting from the 17th century,
 
a still life: Skull and mirror,
spilled coin purse and a flower.



Demand Euphoria!.