Every culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of a new year - but on what day exactly that transition happens depends completely on convention. During the last 500 years many countries adopted the Gregorian calendar and celebrate the beginning of the new year tomorrow on a day denoted as January 1. Wikipedia, as always, points us to many interesting facts, e.g. ...
- Germany and England started the year on December 25 until the 13th century, exactly after the birth of Jesus Christ.
- Scotland adopted January 1 in 1600, whereas Britain and it's colonies waited until 1752.
- The ancient Roman calendar started the year on March 1 and had only 10 months. September e.g. means "the 7th month".
- France on the other hand started on Easter Saturday (sometimes Good Friday) from the 11th to the 16th century. As Easter is moving, the same date could occur twice in a year.
- Traditionally, Japan celebrated the new year at the beginning of Spring whereas ...
- ... the Tamil new year starts on April 13 or 14, and ...
- ... the Coptic Orthodox new year starts as late as September 11.
Lesson to learn? Every day is a new day, a new year, and a new life. Enjoy it. A Happy New Year to you all!
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