The New Year as a holiday was first celebrated approximately 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. At that time, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring), which would make it during late March.
This makes sense since if you consider what Spring is like. The season of rebirth brings with it blossoms and the planting of crops. Green is everywhere and the weather gets increasingly more pleasant.
This Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days, with each one boasting its own unique mode of celebration.
The Romans continued to observe the New Year in late March, but because their calendar was continually edited by various emperors, it soon fell out of synch with the sun. In order to set it right, in 153 BC, the Roman senate, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. When Julius Caeser came to power, he, too, made changes, but kept the celebration of the New Year the same. However, so that the calendar would remain synchronized with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days!
The early Catholic Church condemned the Roman New Year festivities as pagan, however as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations. Like many other holidays, this is how our modern New Year's Day was born. However, because of various changes in the church's stance on the celebration, January 1 has only been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for approximately 400 years.
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