New Year's Day Substitute – January 2, 2025

History of New Year's Day Substitute

Up until the 16th century, New Year’s Day on January 1 was hardly a tradition, and different countries worldwide had their times when they celebrated the new year.

In ancient Babylon, the first recorded new year celebration took place in the year 2000 B.C. The Babylonians designed their calendar around the movement of the moon and sun. They celebrate their new year in the month of Nisan, the first new moon after the vernal equinox (mid-March in Gregorian calendar). Before the ancient Roman calendar reformation in Numa’s era, Romans followed the ten-month calendar thought to have been created by the first king of Rome, Romulus.

The month of March was the first on the calendar. As a result, the new year’s celebrations took place on March 1. Later on, January and February were introduced to the Roman calendar, but as the last two months. However, after some period, people began seeing them as the first two months of the year instead. By 153 B.C., Romans had started celebrating the new year on January 1.

After being named Consul and seeing the harmful influence of the Roman calendar on the state’s administration, Julius Caesar instituted fresh adjustments to the calendar. He adjusted the calendar to the movement of the sun and declared January to be the first month of the year. People in much of the Western world followed the calendar for the next 1,600 years, and many of them celebrated the new year on January 1.

During medieval times, the Church temporarily replaced the first day of the year with important religious days, such as the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25 and Jesus’ birthday on December 25. This practice ended in 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, re-establishing January 1 as New Year’s Day.