By Savannah Hess
Hello everyone. And of course happy new year! With the coming year, we are also halfway through the 2020s. How can that be? I don’t know (please note my sarcasm here). New Years has to be one of my favorite holidays. I always enjoy hanging out with my family, staying up until midnight, watching New Year’s rockin ‘Eve, and singing the song no one remembers the title of (it’s auld lang syne, which before a few weeks ago I never knew). The only context I’ve ever heard is in the Christmas/New Years’ masterpiece, Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg.
How did we get here? What is the history behind New Years’? Well, that’s what we’ll be discussing today. Alrighty, let’s go!
According to my research, we’ll be taking the time machine first back to ancient Babylon. Over 4,000 years ago. The Babylonians used to celebrate new years on the first new moon after the vernal equinox- which was a day in late March with the same amount of light and dark. During this holiday, the Babylonians held a religious festival called an Akitu, which meant a different ritual on each of the 11 days it was held. During this time a new king was crowned too, so the significance for the people of Babylon can’t be overstated.
Going a little further in time, Julius Caesar adopted the Julian calendar, and also decreed the first day of the year as January 1st.
In the middle ages, my personal favorite time period, the church would often replace January 1st with Christmas or other important Christian holidays of the time. It wasn’t until 1582 A.D that Pope Gregory XIII reestablished the first day of the year as being in January.
It wasn’t until about 1800 when people followed the classic tradition of staying up until midnight, according to www.dailyhistory.org. It became popular to hold parties with family and friends to see the New Year, and these parties often involved alcohol. Particularly in the early years of the 19th century. In the Victorian era, circa 1878, new bells were installed to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Crowds gathered to hear the ringing of the bells for the first time ever. Over time this became more of a tradition for the English, and every year the bells are rung on New Years Eve. The origin of Same Auld Lang Syne can be traced back to this time period, in Scotland, when Robert Burns translated the 18th century poem into the well-known song. However the song really gained popularity on December 31st of 1929, when it was played on the radio in the United States. The New York Times began the tradition of a New Years Eve party in 1904, which New York City eventually adopted as its official celebration. Just a few years later in 1907, New York City would ban fireworks. Instead of fireworks, an electrician came up with the idea of a 700 pound illuminated ball which would drop at midnight. Who knew?
Anyway, that’s all I have for you guys. Have a happy 2025 everyone!!