New Year’s Day, celebrated on January 1, is one of the most universal holidays in the world. It marks the beginning of the modern calendar and symbolizes a new beginningan opportunity to leave the past behind and look to the future with hope. Although its current date is linked to the Gregorian calendarits origins date back to ancient times and to various cultures that adopted it as a moment of transition.
The first celebrations of the New Year
The celebration of the New Year has its roots in ancient Mesopotamia, more than 4,000 years ago. The Babylonians commemorated the beginning of the year in March, during the spring equinox, with a festival called Akitu. This marked not only the change of season, but also an act of social and spiritual renewal, accompanied by rituals dedicated to the gods.
Later, In ancient Rome, the ten-month calendar was replaced by one closer to the one we use today. In 46 BC, Emperor Julius Caesar established January 1 as the official start of the year in the Julian calendar. This change was related to Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, represented with two faces looking to the past and the future.
The Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, widely adopted throughout the world, was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as an improvement to the Julian calendar since it contained inaccuracies that caused a gradual lag between calendar dates and astronomical events, such as the equinoxes and solstices. These discrepancies affected the accuracy of religious holidays, especially the date of Easter, which depends on the spring equinox.
What changes did the Gregorian calendar bring?
The Gregorian calendar adjusted the length of the year to more closely align with the actual solar year. This was achieved by reducing the number of leap years. In the Julian calendar, any year divisible by 4 was a leap year. In the Gregorian, only years divisible by 4 are leap years.but not by 100, unless they are also divisible by 400. For example:
- The year 1600 was a leap year.
- The year 1700 was not, although it would be a leap year in the Julian calendar.
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