January 1 - The First New Years Day on January 1

This Day in History: 1 January 2020

 

1 January 45 B.C.

 

2064 years ago, today, New Year's Day was celebrated for the first time in history, due to the Julian calendar taking effect. Soon after he took power as the Roman dictator, Julius Caesar thought that the traditional Roman calendar in place at the time was in need of reform, which attempted to follow the lunar cycle but frequently fell out of phase with the seasons. As well as this, the Roman body in charge of overseeing the calendar, called the pontifices, often abused its power by adding days into the calendar to extend political terms or to interfere with elections. As Caesar designed his new calendar, he asked the astronomerSosigenes for help, who told Caesar to get rid of the lunar cycle and follow the solar year, like the Egyptians did. Through this new method, the year now added 67 days to make the year begin on January 1, instead of in March. After Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C., Mark Anthony changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July) to honour him.

 

However, the celebration of New Year's Day in January fell out of practise in the Middle Ages, as Caesar andSosigenes had failed to calculate the correct length of a solar year. They considered it as 365.25 days, when it was actually 365.242199. This mistake added 11 minutes onto every year, which added 7 days by the year 1000, and 10 days in the mid-15^th century. To solve this problem, Pope Gregory XIII commissioned astronomer ChristopherClavius to make a new calendar, and in 1582, the Gregorian calendar was implemented. This excluded 10 days for that year and implemented the idea of a leap year every four years. Since then, the world has celebrated the New Year on January 1 across the globe.

 

Want to find out more on the celebration of New Year's Day, as well as New Year's Eve? Clickhere for more information.