How Many Days Until New Year?

New Years Day is January 1, the first day of the calendar year. The real celebration happens the night before, on New Years Eve, when millions of people count down to midnight, watch fireworks, kiss someone at the stroke of twelve, and make resolutions they will probably break by February.

The tradition of celebrating on January 1 goes back to 46 BC, when Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar and moved the start of the year from March to January. January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, depicted with two faces: one looking back at the past and one looking forward.

🎆 New Years Eve Traditions

🗽 How Did the Times Square Ball Drop Start?

The ball drop has been a tradition since 1907 when the New York Times organized a celebration to mark the opening of its new headquarters. About 1 million people watch it in person and roughly 1 billion on television worldwide. The ball has been dropped every year since, except in 1942 and 1943 due to wartime blackout restrictions.

🌍 How Do Other Countries Celebrate New Years?

In Spain, people eat 12 grapes at midnight, one for each bell chime, for good luck in each month of the coming year. In Denmark, people smash plates against friends doors (finding broken plates on your doorstep means you are well-liked). In Ecuador and Colombia, people burn effigies of "ano viejo" in the streets. In Scotland, the celebration is called Hogmanay and includes "first-footing": the first person to cross your threshold after midnight should be a tall, dark-haired man carrying coal, bread and whisky.

📝 New Years Resolutions

📝 Do New Years Resolutions Actually Work?

About 41% of Americans make resolutions. The most popular ones are exercising more (39%), improving diet (37%), saving money (34%) and focusing on self-care (28%). Studies show that only about 9% of people successfully keep their resolutions for the entire year.

Research from the University of Scranton found that people who make specific resolutions ("I will walk 30 minutes every day") are 10 times more likely to succeed than those who make vague ones ("I will get healthier"). Writing it down and telling someone about it also significanly increases success rates.

🎆 The First New Years Ball Was Made of Iron and Wood

The original Times Square ball, dropped in 1907, was 5 feet in diameter, weighed 700 pounds, and was made of iron and wood with 100 light bulbs. Todays ball is 12 feet in diameter, weighs 11,875 pounds, and is covered in 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles illuminated by 32,256 LEDs capable of displaying over 16 million colors. The only years the ball was not dropped were 1942 and 1943, due to wartime blackout restrictions.