Why is January 1st considered New Years?

Seriously, does anyone know how and why that idea was arrived at? It's never made a bit of sense to me - why start a new year in the middle of a season? I mean, that's how time is measured, right? By phases of the moon, and the earth's circumnavigation of the sun, and the seasons. So why don't we celebrate New Years at the beginning of spring when things are coming back to life, new beginnings, etc.? Doesn't that make more sense?

I think I'm going to start a campaign to change new years to the first day of spring. I'll go around that day and wish everyone a happy new year and they'll all look at me like I'm crazy which will mean it's a normal day for me.

http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html

It has a long history of Church Rules in it.

"Caesar designated January 1 as the beginning of the year. However, other conventions flourished at different times and places. The most popular alternatives were March 1, March 25, and December 25. This continues to cause problems for historians, since, for example, +998 February 28 as recorded in a city that began its year on March 1, would be the same day as +999 February 28 of a city that began the year on January 1."

We start the new year because Caesar declared it.

I spit upon church rules. I fart in their general direction. That does it - I don't even have to read the link. If the church thinks they can tell me when to celebrate New Years, they need to think again.

Come the vernal equinox, I'm busting out the champagne.

office was taken on the first, Ceasar actually didn't change anything.

But see things in this world aren't suppose to make sense, so that's why New Years day is January 1st.



All things put aside, Happy Halloween! :crazy:

The dominant method that the Romans used to identify a year for dating purposes was to name it after the two consuls who took office in it. Since 153 BC, they had taken office on 1 January, and Julius Caesar did not change the beginning of the year.

Lucy replied, "It's neater."

no one cared what happened in the middle of winter.

The year started with the beginning of the growing season, and ended with the harvest. In between, no one cared.

Later, with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, many (Roman Catholic) nations chose to start the year at Christmas. But there was a push to have it officially start on January 1st (guessing because it wasn't too far away, and made accounting easier).

As for the first day of spring, you could shoot for the Chinese New Year, which puts you in the ballpark. Go for it!

No, I will stick with the equinox and celebrate my own new year, perhaps dancing naked in a glade somewhere or something. Providing it's a balmy spring.

And maybe I can be there....but probably NOT naked! :blush:

And I'd be delighted to have your company. :hi:

Perhaps it would have been better if I'd said....tell me where your glade is?

I know you got it! Gretchen it is! But I'm not big on being naked......

:hi: