Fun Facts About New Years!

Posted by
Jonathon Andrews

1 year ago

The very first New Year’s celebration was over 4,000 years ago in Babylon. It was celebrated when the first new moon after the vernal equinox – a day with equal amount of sunlight and darkness in March. But after many years the sun fell out of sync with the calendar.
After Julius Caesar assumed control of Rome, he created the Julian calendar. He consulted with the best astronomers and mathematicians of the time to re-synchronize the sun and calendar. This led to redefining the New Year to start on January 1^st.
January is named after Janus, the god of doors and gates and is said to have two heads, one looking back and one looking forward.
Only forty-five percent of Americans create New Year resolutions.
Almost every year, 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions are broken in February.
Champagne production increased drastically from 300,000 to 20 million bottles per year from 1800-1850. This was largely due to ship christenings and New Year’s celebrations.
360 million glass of sparkling wine and champagne are drunk each New Year’s Eve.
The average BAC level on New Year’s Eve is 0.095%, making it the most drunken night of the year.
The idea of a “ball dropping” to signify time passing goes all the way back to 1833. England’s Royal Observatory of Greenwich had a ball installed on top of it so nearby ship captains could accurately calibrate their navigation instruments.
Before the “ball drop” tradition started, fireworks were primarily used to celebrate the New Year in Times Square. This lasted a few years until they were banned because the embers would fall into the crowd.
In 1907, a ball was first installed on top of the New York Times roof for the “ball drop” for the New Year.
In the past 115 years we are only on our seventh different New Year’s Ball.
The New Year’s Ball weighs as much as 3 pickup trucks.
At the Hershey Press Building in Pennsylvania, a three-hundred pound and seven foot tall Hershey Kiss is raised 3 stories.
New Year’s Day is the most popular day of the year for cars being stolen.