Happy New Years !

I hope that everybody had a joyous holiday season. I enjoyed the time celebrating with my family and friends. There is nothing better to me than seeing my kids faces light up on Christmas morning !

So we are on to a new year. It's hard to believe that it is 2014! We had a small gathering of family and friends to bring in the new year. The kids were excited about their sparking white juice, confetti, horns, and a few fire works that we lite off at midnight.

Celebrating new years  is not a new phenomena by any means. Civilizations have been celebrating the start of a new year for about four millenniums. The earliest recorded festivities date back to ancient Babylon. Many of these early civilizations tied the new year to agricultural and astronomical events.

It was actually Julius Caesar that instituted January 1st as the first day of the year in sync with his Julian calender (later known as Gregorian calender) about 46 BC. It was partially to honor the Roman god, Janus, the god of beginnings. Janus had two heads, one looking backwards into the past and one looking forward into the future. The Romans celebrated by making sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts, decorating their homes, and attending raucous parties, In medieval times, Christians temporarily placed more religious significance on the day as they did Christmas Day. It was not until 1582 that Pope Gregory XIII reestablished January 1st as New Year's Day.

The most common traditions associated with New Year's is attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, and watching firework displays. In the U.S., the most iconic tradition is the dropping of the ball at midnight in Times Square. A tradition that started in 1907. Another important tradition for many people is to make resolutions for the new year. Some resolutions include spending more time with family and friends, losing weight, quit smoking, save money, etc.......mine is always to eat healthier and become more fit !

This year a goal of mine is to blog more .........I love sharing my love of history with my readers !

Happy 2014 everyone !
Jessica