45 Best New Year Funny and Interesting Facts You Must Know

45 Best New Year Funny and Interesting Facts You Must Know

New Year Facts

New Year implies a new journey with a new hope, a new commitment for challenging to be better. It is celebrated all over the world with the same zeal, vigor and enthusiasm. There are lots of preparations undertaken for the event and it can be categorized as one of the occasions that the whole world celebrates together. All across the globe, cities are decorated. Most of the news channels get special reporters and correspondents geared up to show the live coverage of the celebration. For many it is a new day, a new life and a new beginning. Let us explore more on what makes New Year Day special, by dwelling on the trivia given in the lines below.

 

  1. New Year Day is the oldest of all holidays.

 

  1. It was first observed in ancient Babylon as many as 4000 years ago.

 

  1. In ancient Rome the new year began on March 1.

 

  1. It was Julius Caesar who declared January 1 in Julian calendar as the New Year, in 46 BC.

 

  1. The first month of the year i.e. January has been named after God Janus (Latin word for door), in the Roman calendar. Janus is the God with two faces, one looking backwards and one forward, at the same time and marks the ‘spirit of the opening’

 

  1. January 1 was revived as New Year in 1582, by the Gregorian calendar and so celebrated by most of the countries till date.

 

  1. New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ’s Circumcision by some denominations.

 

  1. New Year is celebrated like a festival throughout the world and everyone around is in festive mood, partying, singing and dancing to ring out the old year and ring in the new.

 

  1. The tradition to kiss 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.

 

  1. In Britain, when the Big Ben clocks strikes 12, everyone gathers around to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’, a Scottish song. It was written by Robert Burns in the 1700’s, literally meaning “old long ago,” or simply, “the good old days”, to remember old and new friends.

 

  1. About 1 million people gather in New York City’s Times Square to watch the crystal ball drop. The Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop came about because of a ban on fireworks. Today, it is covered in 2,688 crystals, is lit by 32,000 LED lights, weighs 11,875 pounds and is 12 feet in diameter.

 

  1. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck for the rest of the year, depending on who he/she was.

 

  1. Many cultures believe that anything given or taken on New Year, in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes “coming full circle”.

 

  1. Almost 44% Americans take New Year resolutions. The most common resolutions are staying fit and healthy, lose weight, send less and save more, stay connected with family, quit smoking and drinking etc.

 

  1. In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year’s Day to bring good luck all year long. The tradition dates back to medieval times.

 

  1. To ensure a year of good luck, firecrackers and noisemakers became tradition in order to scare away any remaining evil spirits and to ensure a brand new start.

 

  1. Ancient Persians gave New Year’s gifts of eggs, which symbolized productiveness.

 

  1. Traditionally, it was thought that people could alter the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. It has, therefore, become important to celebrate first day of the New Year in the company of family and friends.

 

  1. The Spanish ritual on New Year’s eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure twelve happy months in the coming year.

 

  1. In Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico, some families stuff a large doll, which is called Mr. Old Year, with memories from the past year. They also dress him in clothes from the outgoing year. At midnight, he is set ablaze, thus burning away the bad memories

 

  1. The top three places to celebrate New Year’s Eve are Las Vegas, Disney World and of course, New York City.  Internationally, one of the biggest celebrations is in Sydney, Australia. More than 80,000 fireworks are set off from Sydney Harbour Bridge.

 

  1. The ancient Hawaiian New Year was four months long, war was forbidden, people stopped working, and the people spent time dancing, feasting and having a good time.

 

  1. There is a music festival every New Year’s eve in the Antarctic called ‘icestock’.

 

  1. In Thailand, they celebrate their traditional New Year’s Day with a state sponsored multiple day water fight.

 

  1. Russians celebrate the New Year twice, once on January 1st and then again on January 14th.

 

  1. On New Year’s Day in Akita, Japan there is a tradition where men dress as mountain demons, get drunk, and terrorize children for being lazy or disobeying their parents.

 

  1. Every December 25th a town in Peru celebrates “Takanakuy”. Men, women, and children settle grudges with fistfights. Then everyone goes drinking together, ready to start the New Year with a clean slate.

 

  1. Instead of lowering a giant ball of lights on New Year’s Eve, Brasstown, North Carolina lowers a possum. It’s known as “The Possum Drop”.

 

  1. After the French revolution, France briefly used a new calendar based on a decimal system; 10 days a week, 10 hours a day, 100 minutes per hour and 100 seconds per minute, and starting at Year 1.

 

  1. North Korea does not use the normal Gregorian calendar like most of the world. Instead it uses a different calendar system called the Juche calendar for numbering the years and year one of this calendar began on Kim II Sung’s (The founder of North Korea) birthday.

 

  1. On New Year’s Eve, residents in a small neighborhood in Johannesburg, South Africa collect old appliances, carry them up to apartment building rooftops and toss them down to the streets far below.

 

  1. The Reykjavik (capital of Iceland) fireworks display on New Year’s Eve is one of the largest in the world, and most fireworks sales fund rescue operations in the country.

 

  1. At the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia, 10,000 participants step through City Hall and perform in unique costumes.

 

  1. Since New Year’s Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama raises a 12 foot tall lighted mechanical Moon Pie to celebrate the coming of the New Year.

 

  1. In Korea and some other Asian countries, when you are born, you are considered one year old and everyone’s age increases one year on New Year’s. So if you were born on December 29th, on New Year’s day, you will be considered 2 years old.

 

  1. Ethiopia has 13 months. Their current year is still 2006 and they celebrate New Years on September 11.

 

  1. Until 2006, the Space Shuttle never flew on New Year’s day or eve because its computers couldn’t handle a year rollover.

 

  1. When religion was suppressed in Soviet Russia, Santa/St. Nick was replaced with Grandfather Frost, called the spirit of winter, who brought gifts on New Year’s and placed them under the “New Year tree”

 

  1. Chinese New Year is celebrated the second full moon after the winter solstice.

 

  1. Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. Apples and honey are traditionally eaten.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. Many people ring in New Year’s by popping open a bottle of champagne.

 

  1. Some people wear adult diapers while celebrating New Year at Time Square due to the lack of toilets.

 

  1. According to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, vehicles are stolen on New Year’s Day more than any other holiday.

 

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