NewYearsHistory

The first day of the year is both a holiday and a holy day. It's also a time to look back and look ahead. It's a time to make a new beginning. So, many people decide to make New Year's resolutions. They promise themselves to do better in the new year than they did the year before.
Because New Year's Day is a Christian holy day, many people begin the day by going to church. But it's also a day to visit friends and relatives and to exchange gifts.
In the United States, parades and college football games are the big events of the day. Millions of people across the country watch both on television. In Pasadena, California, there is the Tournament of Roses. Festivities begin with a parade of colorful floats and marching bands. After the parade comes the Rose Bowl football game.
There are also parades and football games at the Cotton bowl in Dallas, Texas, at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, and at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.

People near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, flock to see something quite different - the Mummers' Parade. A mummer is a person who wears a mask, a fancy costume, or a disguise for fun. Every year, thousands of people in strange costumes take part in the parade. Of course, there are prizes for the best costumes.
In the Soviet Union, children who live in the city of Moscow may visit the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. There they will see a huge fir tree called the New Year Tree. The tree is decorated with countless colored lights. Children might also see a fairy-tale play and get gifts from Grandfather Frost and his helper the Snow Maiden.
People in Sweden attend church services in the morning. Then comes a big family dinner, much like the one at Christmas.
In many parts of the world, people have special foods that are supposed to bring good luck in the coming year. In Japan, it's a kind of fish called red snapper. This fish is pink in color, and is considered lucky.
Families in Greece share a New Year's cake called peta. A coin is baked inside the cake. Whoever gets the coin is supposed to have good luck for the whole year. In other countries in Europe, roast pig is often served on New Year's Day. Usually the pig has an apple or an orange in it's mouth. But in Hungary, it is a four-leaf clover - for good luck.
In the south of India, the food that brings good luck is boiled new rice. And in the Southern and Southwestern United States, many people enjoy black-eyed peas so as to have good luck throughout the year.
In many countries, gifts are exchanged on New Year's Day instead of on Christmas. Long ago, in England, husbands used to give their wives money on New Year's Day. The money was to buy pins for the whole year. At that time, pins were made by hand and were expensive. After machines were developed to make cheap pins, the custom disappeared. But we still use the expression "pin money", meaning a small amount of money for one's own use.
In Japan, houses are decorated with rice cakes and sprays of sweet-smelling pine. The Japanese believe that they should begin the new year without owing money to anyone.
New Year's Day has been celebrated for more than five thousands year - but not always on January 1st. Even today, people in many parts of the world begin their new year on other dates.
Jews celebrated their new year, Rosh Hashana, in September or October. The Chinese new year begins in January or February. And for the people who follor the Islamic religion, the new year starts on the first day of their first month, called Muharram.