HISTORY MINUTE

Another year has arrived. It is a time of celebration for the present, of refl ection for the past, and of hope for the future. In some areas, the beginning of the year marks new laws going into eff ect or the inauguration of some local officials. And it also means some retailers are now well into stocking for Valentine’s Day. The start of the year is marked with festivities around the world, but there are many different traditions surrounding the day.

Observances of the new year date back thousands of years as ancient peoples recognized the regular shifting patterns of stars at night and the sun in the day and their connection to particular seasons. In some societies, the vernal equinox, the beginning of spring in March, was seen as the beginning of the new year as well as the time to begin planting. The Babylonians were known as early as 2600 BC to mark this day with celebrations and new year’s resolutions.

The earliest observances of January 1 for the beginning of the year began with the Romans around 713 BC. The Romans named the fi rst month of their lunar calendar year January after the Roman god Janus, who supposedly was the god of time and also the god of beginnings and transitions. According to legend, Janus had two faces, one looking into the past and the other looking into the future. The name for the month and the observance of the new year on January 1 remained as the Romans adapted their lunar calendar to the more accurate Egyptian solar calendar under Julius Caesar almost seven centuries later. When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD, the Julian Calendar was kept intact – as was the month honoring the old Roman god.

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