|
New Years Eve Ideas
Date: December 31
Oh, what a headache New Year's has been
over the millennia, although not always because people were imbibing
fermented grape to celebrate. Most of it had to do with when New
Year's actually fell.
All was fine as long as cultures and
countries went by local custom, and for the most part, that centered
around the growing season for that particular area. It makes good
sense when you consider that new life and re-birth after winter, are
the start of a new period in which food was cultivated, homes were
built, and there was a general bustle of activity after laying around
for months.
About 4,000 years ago, that meant that New Year's in ancient Babylon
fell around the third week of March, because that was the optimal time
for planting new crops. In Egypt, the date fell in September, at which
time the Nile River flooded its banks, bringing much needed water to
an arid land.
But then Julius Caesar began meddling in things, and created a whole
new calendar to organize the year, with the first month's name drawn
from the god Janus, who had two faces: one to look behind at the old
year, and one to look ahead into the New Year.
Today, New Year's is universally celebrated at midnight on the evening
of December 31, with events staggered around the globe, according to
the time zone. The world's biggest celebrations are said to be the
carnival atmosphere of Rio de Janiero where the partying attracts some
two million people. But the very best celebrations are generally
accepted to be in Sydney, Australia, where on Dec.31, 2005 they set
off more than 80,000 fireworks from the Sydney Opera House and Sydney
Harbour Bridge.
New Years Eve Resources:
|
|
Need Ideas for Everyday Life?
Check out these great resources...
Ads by AdBrite
|
New
Years Gift Ideas
|
