People around the world celebrate the start of a year on New Year's Day. It is one of the oldest holidays. In Europe, North America, and South America most people celebrate New Year's Day on January 1. People of other places and cultures observe the new year at other times depending on their different calendars. The Chinese New Year, for example, is celebrated for a month beginning in late January or early February. In Iran New Year's Day is in March, on the first day of spring. Followers of the Jewish religion celebrate the new year in the fall.

How New Year's Day is celebrated

Many traditions and customs surround New Year's Day in the United States. On the night before, called New Year's Eve, people have noisy parties and grand feasts. They stay up late and count down the seconds until midnight. In New York City people gather in Times Square at midnight to watch a large ball drop. Many people make New Year's resolutions, or promises to themselves. They see New Year's Day as a chance to make a fresh start.

Different cultures celebrate the new year in many ways. People in the southern United States eat black-eyed peas for good luck. The Dutch eat doughnuts for good luck. For the Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashana, people eat sweet honey so that they will have a sweet year ahead. The monthlong Chinese New Year includes outdoor parades and fireworks. During the Hindu New Year festival called Diwali, people exchange gifts and light ceremonial lamps.

History

There have always been different dates for the start of the new year because different peoples used different calendars. Some peoples based their calendar on the movement of the moon. Other peoples based their calendar on the position of the sun. In ancient Babylonia the new year started when the crops started growing. Ancient Egyptians announced the new year each time the Nile River overflowed its banks. The Inca believed that the new year began on the shortest day of the year. In China the new year began when the noontime shadow reached an exact length.

In 153 BC the Romans named January 1 as New Year's Day. The Roman Catholic church later changed New Year's Day to March 25. In 1582 a new Christian calendar moved the start of the year back to January 1. Today most Western nations celebrate New Year's Day on January 1.