Watch the London's spectacular midnight fireworks display, welcoming in 2012.!
Here is a reminder of what New Year is, how and when it started .
A Bit of history
January was established as the first the first month of the year by the Roman Calendar. It was named after the god Janus (Latin word for door). Janus has two faces which allowed him to look both
backwards into the old year and forwards into the new one at the same time. He was the 'spirit of the opening'.
backwards into the old year and forwards into the new one at the same time. He was the 'spirit of the opening'.
However, in the very earliest Roman calendars there were no months of January or February at all. The ancient Roman calendar had only ten months and the new year started the year on 1 March.
The Anglo-Saxons called the first month Wolf monath because wolves came into the villages in winter in search of food.
New Year's Eve
People welcome in the New Year on the night before. This is called New Year's Eve. In Scotland, people celebrate with a lively festival called Hogmanay. All over Britain there are parties, fireworks, singing and dancing, to ring out the old year and ring in the new. As the clock - Big Ben - strikes midnight, people link arms and sing a song called Auld Lang Syne. It reminds them of old and new friends.
The Door custom
In the old days, the New Year started with a custom called 'first footing', which was supposed to bring good luck to people for the coming year. As soon as midnight had passed and January 1st had started, people used to wait behind their doors for a dark haired person to arrive.
A New Year Superstition in the Middle Ages
The 1st of January was an important day in medieval superstitions . A flat cake was put on one of the horns of a cow in every farmyard. The farmer and his workers would then sing a song and dance around the cow until the cake was thrown to the ground. If it fell in front of the cow that signified good luck; to fall behind indicated the opposite.
New Year is also the opportunity to take Resolutions :a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year
The most common being to quit smoking and to lose weight .ex : I'm going to give up smoking."
What about yours ? !!!! Post your comments!
