5 Fun New Year’s Facts
Happy 2014 Where in the World readers! Below are five fun New Year’s facts.
- New Year’s Day is the oldest of all holidays, as it was first observed in ancient Babylon as many as 4,000 years ago
- Eating for good luck is a popular tradition. The Spanish ritual on New Year’s Eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure twelve happy months in the coming year. In Holland, donuts are consumed because the round shape is believed to express a full circle of life from one year to the next. Many Orientals will eat sticky rice around midnight on New Year’s Day to ensure a year of prosperity and good fortune. In the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity throughout the year.
- Noise making and fireworks on New Year’s Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.
- Kissing at midnight was originally started within a family to ensure that it celebrated the year with those nearest and dearest to their hearts in order to maintain complete affection for the coming year. The tradition was later expanded to also include friends.
- The song “Auld Lang Syne” is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. Does anyone know what Auld Lang Syne means?
