The history of New Year’s Day originates from the ancient Roman calendar system. The first application of January 1 as the start of the new year occurred in 153 BC.
Today, most countries around the world celebrate the New Year on January 1. However, not many people are aware of the history behind this celebration. According to historical records, the origins of New Year’s Day can be traced back to the calendar system of ancient Rome. The Roman calendar was created by Romulus (the founder of Rome, around 753 BC) based on the lunar calendar used by the Greeks.
This calendar was known as the Romulus calendar, which consisted of 10 months starting from the date of the vernal equinox (approximately March 21 in the modern Gregorian calendar). The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC), improved the Romulus calendar, creating the Numa calendar, which included 12 months. A typical year in the Numa calendar had 355 days, and in years with an intercalary month (leap month), it had 385 days.
According to historical records, the history of New Year’s Day originates from the ancient Roman calendar system.
During the Roman Republic (around 450 BC), the Numa calendar was modified into the Roman Republican calendar. According to this calendar, two years with the month Mercedonius had 377 and 378 days, while the other two years had 355 days. Although it was more accurate than previous calendars, the Roman Republican calendar remained complex and was often miscalculated for various reasons.
Based on this calendar, Rome was the first nation to adopt January 1 as the start of the new year in 153 BC. However, this was often disregarded due to cultural and political customs in different regions of Rome. By the time of Emperor Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), this calendar system was fundamentally improved into the Julian calendar, which laid the foundation for the modern Gregorian calendar.
The new calendar established by Julius Caesar was widely implemented throughout the Roman Empire, retaining January 1 as the New Year’s Day. To honor him, the Senate renamed his birth month (July) from its old name Quintilis to July. Similarly, the grandson of Caesar, Emperor Augustus, received an honorary name change for the month of August.
Rome was the first nation to choose January 1 as the beginning of the new year from 153 BC.
Thus, the name of August was changed from Sextilis to August, as he corrected errors in the calculation of leap years. The Julian calendar did not undergo significant changes until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII took office, unifying the method of calculating the modern calendar to divide the months of the year. The Pope modified and confirmed January 1 as New Year’s Day despite opposition from various Christian sects.
Countries with a strong Catholic influence adopted New Year’s Day earliest, followed by Protestant nations. Germany accepted New Year’s Day in 1700, followed by England (1752) and Sweden (1753). Eastern countries influenced by various religions such as Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Islam also gradually adopted the Christian calendar. Japan adopted the Gregorian New Year in 1873 and China in 1912.
In Vietnam, New Year’s Day was adopted during the French colonial period.
The Eastern Orthodox churches adopted New Year’s Day later, around the 1920s. Russia accepted it in two phases, first in 1918 and again in 1924.
In Vietnam, New Year’s Day was adopted during the French colonial period, when the Western calendar began to replace the traditional lunar calendar. At that time, government offices were closed for these days to celebrate the New Year festival. Today, New Year’s Day has been localized and has become a traditional holiday for the entire nation…
New Year’s Day 2024 will fall on Monday, January 1, 2024.
