Fact-check log

Every sourced claim on this site, with the page it was checked against on 14 November 2026. We quote Encyclopaedia Britannica article bodies, not any "Ask Anything" or "Top Questions" boxes. Wikipedia is not used as a source.

• A New Year festival, in Britannica's wording, is any of the social, cultural, and religious observances worldwide that celebrate the beginning of the new year. Britannica
• Such festivals are among the oldest and the most universally observed. Britannica
• The earliest known record of a New Year festival dates from about 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia. Britannica
• In Babylonia the new year (Akitu) began with the new moon after the vernal equinox. Britannica
• In Assyria it began with the new moon nearest the autumnal equinox (mid-September). Britannica
• For the Egyptians and Phoenicians the year began with the autumnal equinox (September 21). Britannica
• For the ancient Persians it began on the vernal equinox (March 21). Britannica
• For the early Greeks it began with the winter solstice (December 21). Britannica
• On the Roman republican calendar the year began on March 1, but after 153 BCE the official date was January 1, which was continued in the Julian calendar of 46 BCE. Britannica
• In early medieval times most of Christian Europe regarded March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year. Britannica
• New Year's Day was observed on December 25 in Anglo-Saxon England. Britannica
• William the Conqueror decreed that the year begin on January 1, but England later joined the rest of Christendom and adopted March 25. Britannica
• The Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1582 by the Roman Catholic Church, restored January 1 as New Year's Day. Britannica
• Britannica says most European countries gradually followed suit, for example Scotland in 1660, Germany and Denmark about 1700, England in 1752, and Russia in 1918. Britannica
• In the Jewish religious calendar the year begins on Rosh Hashana, the first day of the month of Tishri, which falls between September 6 and October 5. Britannica
• The Muslim calendar normally has 354 days in each year, with the new year beginning with the month of Muharram. Britannica
• Nowruz, an ancient Zoroastrian festival, is celebrated as a cultural new year in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and Central Asia with Persian influences. Britannica
• The Chinese New Year is celebrated officially for a month beginning in late January or early February. Britannica
• In southern India the people of Kerala celebrate the new year as Vishu and the people in neighbouring Tamil Nadu as Puthandu on April 14. Britannica
• Tibetans observe the day as Losar in February. Britannica
• In Thailand the holiday, called Songkran, is celebrated in mid-April. Britannica
• In Japan the New Year holiday Shogatsu is a three-day celebration from January 1 to 3. Britannica
• The baby as a symbol of the new year dates to the ancient Greeks, with an old man representing the year that has passed. Britannica
• The Romans derived the name for the month of January from their god Janus, who had two faces, one looking backward and the other forward. Britannica
• The practice of making resolutions to rid oneself of bad habits and to adopt better ones also dates to ancient times. Britannica
• Some believe the Babylonians began the custom more than 4,000 years ago. Britannica
• These early resolutions were likely made in an attempt to curry favor with the gods. Britannica
• In the West, particularly in English-speaking countries, the nostalgic Scottish ballad "Auld Lang Syne," revised by the poet Robert Burns, is often sung on New Year's Eve. Britannica
• Many Europeans, for example, eat cabbage or other greens to ensure prosperity in the coming year. Britannica
• People in the American South favor black-eyed peas for good luck. Britannica
• The first guest to cross the threshold, or "first foot," is significant and may bring good luck if the person is of the right physical type, which varies with location. Britannica
• First foot traditions are observed, for example, in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England. Britannica
• The New Year's Eve celebrations at London's Trafalgar Square and Sydney's Port Jackson draw large crowds. Britannica
• The first Rose Bowl Game was played in Pasadena, California, on January 1, 1902. Britannica
• Hogmanay is the New Year's festival in Scotland and parts of northern England. Britannica
• The name is also used for the dole of bread, cake, or sweets then given to the children who go from house to house soliciting it with traditional rhymes. Britannica
• One of those rhymes concludes with "Rise up and gie's our Hogmanay." Britannica
• On this evening it is traditional for parties of masked children or young men to visit houses as guisers or mummers. Britannica
• The singing of "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's, now a worldwide custom, originated during Hogmanay. Britannica
• The holiday also reportedly introduced the practice of bell ringing to mark the new year. Britannica
• First footing predicts good luck and prosperity if the first visitor to one's house after midnight is a tall, dark-haired man bearing a ceremonial gift, such as coal or salt. Britannica
• A local custom is the "burning of the clavie" (a bonfire of split casks, in which a nail plays a part), which still flourishes at Burghead in Moray. Britannica
• Hogmanay is widely regarded as one of Scotland's most important holidays, and it is not uncommon for festivities to last until January 2. Britannica
• Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish song with words attributed to the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. The composer is not definitely known. Britannica
• In English-speaking countries, the first verse and chorus are now closely associated with the New Year festival. Britannica
• The lyrics are in the Scots language. The title, translated literally into standard English, is Old Long Since. Britannica
• The words can be interpreted as since long ago or for old times' sake. Britannica
• The lyrics are about old friends having a drink and recalling adventures they had long ago. There is no specific reference to the new year. Britannica
• Burns first wrote down "Auld Lang Syne" in 1788, but the poem did not appear in print until shortly after his death in 1796. Britannica
• It was first published in volume five of James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum. Britannica
• Burns claimed that the words of "Auld Lang Syne" were taken "from an old man's singing." Britannica
• Poems with similar words existed before the time of Burns. Sir Robert Ayton, who died in 1638, wrote Old Long Syne, a poem that was first published in 1711. Britannica
• The Scottish poet Allan Ramsay published a poem in 1720 that begins with the line "Should auld acquaintance be forgot" but is otherwise dissimilar to the Burns poem. Britannica
• The English composer William Shield used a similar tune in his comic opera Rosina, first performed in 1782. Britannica
• Not until 1799 did the words and music that are now familiar appear together, in a Scottish song compilation published by George Thomson. Britannica
• Hogmanay celebrants traditionally sing the song while they stand in a circle holding hands. Britannica
• The Canadian-born bandleader Guy Lombardo helped make "Auld Lang Syne" a New Year's Eve tradition in North America. His band, the Royal Canadians, played the song at the turn of the new year in broadcasts that began on December 31, 1929, and continued for more than 30 years. Britannica
• Janus, in Roman religion, is the animistic spirit of doorways (januae) and archways (jani). Britannica
• Some scholars regard Janus as the god of all beginnings and believe that his association with doorways is derivative. Britannica
• The beginning of the day, month, and year, both calendrical and agricultural, were sacred to him. Britannica
• The month of January is named for him, and his festival took place on January 9, the Agonium. Britannica
• Janus was represented by a double-faced head, and he was represented in art either with or without a beard. Britannica
• The Gregorian calendar is a solar dating system now in general use. It was proclaimed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a reform of the Julian calendar. Britannica
• By the Julian reckoning, the solar year lasts 365 1/4 days. Britannica
• The solar year more precisely lasts 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.25 seconds, that is, more than 11 minutes shorter than 365 1/4 days. Britannica
• This slight inaccuracy accumulated and caused the calendar dates of the seasons to regress by almost one day per century. Britannica
• Although this regression had amounted to 14 days by Pope Gregory's time, he based his reform on restoration of the vernal equinox, then falling on March 11, to March 21, the date it occurred in 325 CE. Britannica
• The change was effected by advancing the calendar 10 days after October 4, 1582, the day following being reckoned as October 15. Britannica
• Within a year the change had been adopted by the Italian states, Portugal, Spain, and the Roman Catholic German states. Britannica
• Gradually, other countries adopted the Gregorian calendar: the Protestant German states in 1699, Great Britain and its colonies in 1752, Sweden in 1753, Japan in 1873, China in 1912, the Soviet socialist republics in 1918, and Greece in 1923. Britannica
• Countries that switched later had to drop more days: Great Britain dropped 11 days in 1752, and Greece dropped 13 days in 1923. Britannica
• According to Scotland's People, the first official New Year which took place on 1 January in Scotland was 1 January 1600. Scotland's People
• Before then, the year officially began on 25 March. Scotland's People
• The rest of the British Isles did not adopt the New Year change until 1 January 1752, by which time 11 days had to be removed from the calendar in adjustment. Scotland's People
• The British statute is the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 (24 Geo. 2 c. 23). Calendar Act 1750
• The Act recites that the legal supputation of the year of our Lord in England, according to which the year beginneth on the twenty-fifth day of March, had been found inconvenient. Calendar Act 1750
• It also notes that this English reckoning differs from the legal method of computation in Scotland. Calendar Act 1750
• From and after the last day of December 1751, the first day of January following was to be accounted the first of the year 1752. Calendar Act 1750
• The natural day next after 2 September 1752 was to be accounted 14 September, omitting for that time only the eleven intermediate nominal days of the common calendar. Calendar Act 1750
• Archibald Cregeen's Dictionary of the Manks Language, quoted by Culture Vannin, gives Quaaltagh or Qualtagh as "one who meets." Culture Vannin
• Cregeen says the qualtagh is the first person met on New Year's Day, or on going on some new work. Culture Vannin
• A company of young lads or men, generally went in old times on what they termed the Qualtagh, at Christmas or New Year's Day to the house of their more wealthy neighbours. Culture Vannin
• Some of the company repeated a Manx rhyme beginning "Ollick ghennal erriu as blein feer vie," and were then invited in to partake of the best thing that the house could afford. Culture Vannin
• A 1947 account published in the Culture Vannin collection says New Year's Day was once called in Manx "Laa Nollick beg" -- "Little Christmas Day." Culture Vannin
• The same 1947 account says the first foot should preferably be a man of dark complexion to bring good luck to the house. Culture Vannin
• It says a fair person, particularly a woman, was considered unlucky. Culture Vannin