Time Until The New Century You need Java to see this applet. In ancient times, Summer is the only season of the year that was never used for a celebration of New Years. Spring was used because everything was beginning to grow, Fall was the time when everything was ending, and Winter was when nature was sleeping, and it was time to begin again. Of these three, Spring was the most popular. Over 4000 years ago, in 2000 B.C., the Babylonians celebrated New Years on March 23rd, which was the beginning of Spring. The celebration lasted for 11 days, with a different theme each day. The Romans changed it to March 25th, but this was changed by every emporer until the sun was out of sync. The Roman Senate, in 153 B.C., then decreed that it would be January 1st, to get things back in line. The Catholic Church at first opposed the celebratation of the New Year as a Pagan ritual, but adopted it in time as they did other rituals. When they finally accepted the holiday, they too adopted January 1st, the beginning of the calander, as the new year. The use of a baby as a symbol for the New Year began in Greece in the year 600 B.C. It was brought to America by the German immigrants, who had used it since the 14th century. The idea of New Years however, has only been celebrated in the Western nations for the last 400 years or so. It is the more modernized holiday that uses the practice of making resolutions!