Why Everyone Celebrates New Year’s Day On January 1st
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:
The Chinese, the Jews, and many others beg to differ.
As would the Persians, whose New Year occurs at the spring solstice.