Happy New Year!
Here are some fun facts about the New Year
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The earliest known New Year celebrations were in Mesopotamia and date back to 2000 B.C.
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The first recorded New Year’s celebration dates back 4,000 years to Babylon, when the first moon after the spring equinox marked a new year. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar created a calendar with Jan. 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honor Janus, the month’s namesake.
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The tradition of kissing at midnight isn’t a recent invention. According to old English and German folklore, the first person you come across in the new year could set the tone for the next 12 months.
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To ensure a year of good luck, firecrackers and noisemakers became a tradition in order to scare away any remaining evil spirits and to ensure a brand new start.
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Black-eyed peas, ham, and cabbage are considered good luck if you eat them on New Year’s Eve or Day because it is believed they will bring you money.
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Lobster and chicken are considered bad luck because lobsters can move backward and chickens can scratch in reverse, so it is thought these foods could bring a reversal of fortune.
