31 Dec 2008

New Year

The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations.

In countries governed by the Gregorian calendar, the celebration of New Year is celebrated on January 1, the date that is considered the most festive of them.

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Traditionally, the Roman calendar began the first day of March. However, it was in January (the eleventh month) when the consuls of ancient Rome assumed the government. Julius Caesar, in 47 BC, changed the system, creating the Julian calendar, with some modifications in the time of Marco Antonio consul in 44 BC, the emperor Augustus Caesar in 8 BC and finally by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, is used today. In this year begins on January 1. Subsequently, the Gregorian calendar had the habit and the celebration was marked with a religious significance during the Middle Ages and later centuries.

With the expansion of Western culture to the rest of the world during the twentieth century, the January 1 date became a universal in nature, even in countries with their own New Year celebrations (e.g., China).

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