Why Everyone Celebrates New Year’s Day On January 1st

Dubai New Years 2014

Adam Garfinkle traces the history of the calender to find out how it is that the entire world ended up celebrating New Year’s Eve/Day according to the one developed by Julius Caesar and later modified by Pope Gregory XIII.

An interesting read. No word, though, on how getting hammered for the occasion came to be a worldwide tradition as well.

The photograph above, by the way, is of New Year’s Eve in Dubai, where they set off a world’s record fireworks display. Here’s an aerial video of the whole thing:

FILED UNDER: Uncategorized
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. mantis says:

    The Chinese, the Jews, and many others beg to differ.

  2. Eric says:

    As would the Persians, whose New Year occurs at the spring solstice.