Here’s why January 1 begins each new year

A new year is upon us. Yet have you ever wondered why New Year’s Day is on New Year’s Day? Typically, holiday dates aren’t simply pulled out of a hat but instead set on specific days for exact reasons. So what’s up with the new year?

The new year on Jan. 1 started with the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar, the ill-fated leader of the Roman Empire. Yet why was Jan. 1 picked rather than, say, March 1 or July 1?

The Roman god Janus, for whom January is named, was revered as the god of beginnings. It was also said that Janus had two faces and could move backward and forward through. Given Janus’s close association with time, January emerged as the obvious choice to start the calendar.

However, there was a problem with the Julian calendar: it was inaccurate by a few minutes each year. These minutes add up, however, and every 128 years, the Julian calendar falls a day behind.

Pope Gregory XIII updated the calendar in 1582 to make it more accurate. The Catholic Church kept the New Year partly because Saint Sylvester’s Day falls on December 31. Sylvester, a fourth-century pope, presided over the Church as it cemented its authority in the Roman Empire and adopted the Nicene Creed, the statement of belief that has defined mainstream Christianity ever since.

The Gregorian calendar remains the most widely used calendar in the world, which makes New Year’s Day on Jan. 1 the most widespread celebration in the world. However, some cultures celebrate the New Year on different days.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated at some point between January 21 and February 20 each year, depending on the moon. That’s because the traditional Chinese calendar is a lunar calendar. The Persian New Year, widely celebrated in Iran, begins on the vernal equinox (spring equinox in the Northern hemisphere). Many other cultures and calendars have their own unique New Year’s holidays.