Learn about the history of New Year's Eve celebrations

Civilizations around the world have been celebrating the beginning of each new year for at least four thousand years. Today, most New Year's Eve celebrations begin on December 31 (New Year's Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue until the early hours of January 1 (New Year's Day). Common traditions include attending parties, eating New Year's foods, making New Year's resolutions, and watching fireworks displays.

Early New Year Celebrations

The earliest recorded celebrations in honor of the arrival of the New Year date back some 4000,11 years to the ancient city of Babylon, Iraq. For the Babylonians, the first new moon after the vernal equinox – in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness – heralded the beginning of a new year. They celebrated the occasion with a huge religious festival called Akito (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which is cut off in spring) which included different rituals on each of its <> days.

In addition to the New Year, Atiku celebrated the legendary victory of the Babylonian god of heaven Marduk over the evil sea goddess Tiamat and served an important political purpose: at this time a new king was crowned or the divine mandate of the current ruler was symbolically renewed.

DID YOU KNOW? In order to reorganize the Roman calendar with the sun, the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar had to add an additional 90 days to the year 46 BC when he introduced his new Julian calendar.

Throughout antiquity, civilizations around the world have developed increasingly sophisticated calendars, usually attaching the first day of the year to an agricultural or astronomical event.

In Egypt, for example, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rise of the star Sirius. Meanwhile, the Chinese New Year begins with the appearance of the second moon after the winter solstice.

January 1 becomes New Year's Day

The early Roman calendar consisted of 10 months and 304 days, with the beginning of each new year in the vernal equinox; according to tradition, it was created by Romulus, the founder of Rome, in the eighth century BC, and is credited to Noma Pompilius, the second ruler of Rome, adding the months of January and February.

Over the centuries, the calendar was asynchronous with the Sun, and in 46 BC Emperor Julius Caesar decided to solve the problem by consulting with the most prominent astronomers and mathematicians of his time. He introduced the Julian calendar, which is very similar to the more modern Gregorian calendar used by most countries around the world today.

As part of his reform, Caesar made the first of January as the first day of the year, partly to honor the month of the same name: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, this god has two faces, a face that looks to the future and a face that looks to the past. The Romans celebrated by making sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts with each other, decorating their homes with laurel branches (in Moroccan as the paper of Sayyidna Musa) and attending noisy parties.

In medieval Europe, Christian leaders temporarily replaced January 25 as the first of the year with days of greater religious significance, such as December 25 (the anniversary of the birth of Jesus) and March 1 (the Feast of the Annunciation); Pope Gregory XIII remade January 1582 as New Year's Day in <>.

New Year's traditions

In many countries, New Year's Eve celebrations begin on the evening of December 31 – New Year's Eve – and continue until the early hours of January 1.

New Year's Eve Parties

Revelers often enjoy meals and snacks that are believed to give good luck for the coming year. In Spain and many other Spanish-speaking countries, people have collected a dozen grapes – symbolizing their hopes for the coming months just before midnight.

In many parts of the world, traditional New Year's dishes feature legumes that are thought to resemble coins and promise future financial success; examples include lentils in Italy and black peas in the southern United States. Because pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork is served on the New Year's Eve table in Cuba, Austria-Hungary, Portugal and other countries.

in Mexico, the Netherlands, Greece and elsewhere. People cook cakes and pastries in the shape of a ring, a sign that the year has completed a full circle.

In Sweden and Norway, rice pudding (rice with milk) with almonds hidden on New Year's Eve is served. It is said that whoever finds walnuts can expect 12 months of good luck. Other common customs around the world include watching fireworks and singing songs to welcome the New Year, including the song "Auld Lang Syne" famous in many English-speaking countries.

The practice of making decisions for the New Year is believed to have first become famous among the ancient Babylonians, who made promises to win the support of the gods and start the year on the right foot. (They reportedly pledged to repay the debt and return borrowed agricultural equipment.)

In the United States, the most famous New Year's tradition is to drop a giant ball in Times Square in New York City at midnight. The event is watched by millions of people around the world, taking place almost every year since 1907.

In Abu Dhabi, the capital's Corniche is the scene of a dazzling fireworks display, as well as displays that adorn the emirate's sky at locations such as Emirates Palace, Yas Marina on Yas Island and Al Maryah Island.

In Dubai, thousands of Emiratis and tourists gather in the square overlooking the Burj Khalifa to welcome the New Year and enjoy spectacular fireworks displays on the world's tallest towers, in harmony with laser lights.