The New Year is the day that marks the beginning of the next calendar year.

Setting the day that January 1 should be the date to begin, the year was made by law by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. C.E. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1984), vol. XIV, p. 237: “The Romans dedicated this day (January 1) to Janus, the god of gates, entrances and beginnings. The name of January comes from Janus, who had two faces, one facing forward and the other backward.

The religious establishment of January 1 as the beginning of the year took place for the first time in 1691, by Pope Innocent XII. Before this date, Christmas was the beginning of the new year, while for many ancient peoples in the northern hemisphere, the year began on March 1.

In the Roman Catholic liturgy, January 1 represents an octave from Christmas; thus, this day is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At the same time, on the eighth day after birth, the circumcision and baptism, according to the Jewish religion, of the baby Jesus are mentioned in the Gospel (Luke 2:21) - as well as in the evangelical churches. In the Orthodox Church, January 1 is also the day of St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea Cappadocia.

In the contemporary era, the New Year is greeted on the night of December 31 to January 1 - New Year's Eve (from the French: Réveillon, which means about "awakening", here with the meaning of feast at midnight) - with firecrackers and fireworks; relatives, friends and acquaintances are wished good luck and health and "Happy New Year!"

Past habits:

New Year's parties are not recent. Some ancient inscriptions show that they adhered to pagan religions in Babylon as early as the third millennium BC. Being celebrated in mid-March, the New Year was a very important event. The World Book Encyclopedia says that people believed that, "at that time, the god Marduk was deciding the fate of the country for the next year." To the Babylonians, the feast of the New Year lasted 11 days and included sacrifices, processions, and fertility rites.

For a while, for the Romans, the year also started in March. However, in 46 AD, Emperor Julius Caesar established by law that January 1 be the date on which the year began. This day was already dedicated to Janus, the god of beginnings, and now it would mark the first day of the year for the Romans.