My west coast brother began his text to me today with this information - today is Old New Years Day. Of course that piqued my curiosity. Hasn't January 1 always been New Years Day, at least in western cultures?
Evidently not. Until 1752, England and British dominions including those in America, celebrated March 25 as the first day of the calendar year.
In case you're wondering what happened in 1752, I looked it up. In 1752 Great Britain and the American colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar with a loss of 11 days. September 2, 1752 was followed by September 14 to align with European dates, and New Years Day was legally moved from March 25 to January 1.
In the Catholic church March 25 is Annunciation Day, when the Angel Gabriel told Mary she would be the mother of Jesus, which is why it was considered the beginning of the year. You may have noticed that that makes December 25 Jesus's probable birth date.
In everyday life the Julian calendar has been used since 45 BCE.
According to tradition, during his reign Numa Pompilius, the legendary second king of Rome after Romulus, who reigned from 715-672 BCE revised the Roman calendar so January replaced March as the first month. This seemed appropriate since, in Roman mythology, Janus was the god of all beginnings while Mars was the god of war.
And that is probably more than you ever wanted to know about why March 25 is not New Years Day anymore.
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