On December 31st, many people around the globe gather to celebrate the New Year. For many, it is a time to make fresh starts and resolutions, to dazzle the eyes with fireworks, to toast to old friends and new, and to look ahead, wondering what the coming year will bring. Years and years of history lie behind the celebrations and traditions that are associated with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Why do we eat black-eyed peas and cabbage? What does the New Year's kiss symbolize (other than a good excuse to get close to that cute person on the other side of the room)?

January 1st was declared to be New Year's Day in Great Britain and the American colonies when, in 1752, Great Britain and its colonies adopted the Gregorian calander, which begins the year on this day. The first day of a new year has been, and still is, celebrated on many other days as well, depending on geographic location and culture. The pagan new year is celebrated in October, during the Samhain festival. People of the Bahai faith, along with Persians, celebrate their new year, called No-Ruz, at the spring Equinox (March 21-22). The Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 1st of this year. The "traditional" New Year celebration, involving fireworks, champagne, and visiting friends, is actually a combination of the traditions of many different celebrations.

The ancient Babylonians were the first recorded people to hold New Year celebrations. Each day of their twelve-day celebration, called Akitu, had a different meaning, and the celebration was religious in nature. The Babylonians were also the first people reported to have made New Year resolutions. As in many cultures, the paying of debts was very important before beginning the new year, but the most popularly recorded resolution of the Babylonians was to return borrowed tools! Most cultures, in their celebration of a turning year, make resolutions or pay debts as a way of making a fresh start.

In the Roman Empire, as well, the New Year was originally celebrated on the first day of spring. However, the Roman calendar did not remain consistent through the reigns of successive emperors who added to or took away from the months. After a few decades, the first day of spring was entirely different from year to year by calendar reckoning. The Roman senate finally declared January 1st to be the first day of the new year and attempted, in 153 BC, to reconcile the calendar year to the solar year, but they were unsuccessful. The Gregorian calendar finally accomplished this in 1582, and the New Year was once again set to January 1st for those who utilized this calendar system.

Bringing luck to the New Year was a matter of great concern to many people in times past. Lucky foods for the new year are rice, black-eyed peas, cabbage, and ham. Black-eyed peas were considered to be a symbol of wealth in colonial America. In several countries, the pig is considered a lucky animal, hence the popularity of ham as a New Year's Day dish. In Sicily, lasagne is the food of luck, while in Spain and Peru, twelve grapes eaten will ensure good fortune for the year (in Peru, they eat a thirteenth grape, just to be sure). Norwegians traditionally serve a rice pudding with one whole almond baked in - whoever gets the serving with the almond will be the luckiest. The first guest in the household of the New Year is an important herald of luck as well. Dark-haired guests are said to be the luckiest. In Scotland, the first guest to enter the house must always be dark-haired, and he or she must carry a piece of coal across the threshold. In China, everyone paints their door with a fresh coat of d paint on New Year's day. Red is the color of luck in China, red symbolizing fire, which can drive away evil spirits and bad luck. The Chinese were the first to celebrate the New Year with fireworks and firecrackers , to keep evil and ill-fortune at bay.

Purification is also a theme of the New Year celebrations. Houses must be cleaned to welcome in the year, and, as mentioned before, all debts should be paid in full in order to step into the year with a clean conscience. Noisemakers and rattles purportedly scare away evil spirits and attract the notice of benign spirits. Oddly enough, the New Year's kiss is itself a symbol of purification. Masked balls were held on New Year's Eve, and it is said that the raucous parties symbolized the chaos that existed before the ordered universe. The masks were symbols of evil spirits. When the midnight bell tolled, the masks were removed, and kisses were exchanged to drive away the evil spirits, leaving them behind in the old year. Also, in English, German, Scotch, and Welsh traditions, the first person you meet in the New Year has a special significance, and by kissing that person, you tie your destiny to theirs. With this in mind, who will you be sure to stand next to at midnight when the year turns again?

Perhaps, depending on where you may live in the world, the mention of a New Year celebration calls to mind thousands of people packed together in Times Square, New York City. This event, which began in 1904, is now televised world-wide on December 31st. The first Times Square celebration was hosted by The New York Times, to celebrate, not only the turning year, but also the opening of their new headquarters and the renaming of the square. It had once been called Longacre Square, but on January 1st, 1904, it assumed its new name. The lowering of the New Year's Ball was first seen three years later.

Whether you celebrate the New Year on January 1st or on another day, everyone can agree that there is something exciting in the marking of time that lends us a moment to feel as though we can turn over a new leaf and begin again. To celebrate a new year is to celebrate renewal of self, hope for the future, and to rejoice in the time that has been given to us. Whether you celebrate with a riotous party or quietly, with friends or alone, whether you practice the traditions of luck or simply enjoy the fireworks, remember that the turning of the year is a time of joy, and ahead of us lies a life full of possibility and promise.