Are you ready to ring in the New Year? Before you grab your champagne and noisemakers, let's take a few moments to look back at New Years celebrations of yore.
Still don't have any plans for the big night? Well, if you were living in early ancient Rome, you’d still have time to plan a
big bash since New Year fell on March 1st. The move to January 1st didn’t take place until 46 B.C. when Julius
Caesar introduced a new solar-based calendar. While his calendar solved a number of
time-based math problems which led to date drift, it didn’t solve them all. One
day, this would lead to Britain being out of whack with the rest of Europe but
more about that later.
Speaking of moveable
celebrations, Wep-renpet was Ancient Egypt's New Year. The feast date was calculated based on
the rising of the star Sirius and the annual flooding of the Nile and could
vary from year to year. Judging from tomb paintings and a few choice papyri
passages, it seems the Egyptians rang in the New Year by partying like it was
1999 B.C.
And, like the year, we come
full circle back to the Julian calendar. At one time, Britain marked the New
Year in March while the rest of Europe pulled out the party hats on January 1st. The disparity began in 1582 when
the protestant Henry VIII refused to switch to the newly updated, fresh off the
Guttenberg printing presses Gregorian calendar. This decision, coupled with date
drift, resulted in the New Year falling in March. Realizing it was no fun
partying alone, Britain finally relented and adopted the Gregorian calendar in
1751.
10 comments:
Hi and thanks so much for that info on New Years! Happy New Year to you. I saw this on the jenny evolution party.
Julie at julieslifestyle.blogspot.com
Great post, I enjoyed the history Thanks so much for linking to Inspire Me and I hope you have a very Bless and Happy New Year. Hugs, Marty
i am a history buff too! Thanks for sharing and Happy New year to you!
Great history info. I sometimes post about different holidays origins too. Thanks for stopping at GrammyMouseTails
Faythe ~
I love historical tips like this, thanks.
Posting from http://linorstorecom.blogspot.com/2014/12/crazy-cat-challenge.html
Great info! I love learning stuff like this. Have a happy New Year!
How very interesting. Parisians behaving badly and that Britain is the one different from the rest of the world in celebrating the Mew Year. Thanks for sharing with #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup this week
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Saw you at Women Winning Online on FB. First time I've come across your blog and glad I did. I read mostly nonfiction, but enjoy good literary fiction. Will check out your books and pinned this piece. Warm regards, Nancy A at www.nancyandreswriter.com
And then the Gregorian calendar went and messed with the dates again. M'eh any excuse to party is good enough for me, ha ha! THanks for sharing on #FridayFrivolity
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