FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
In many countries, the new year begins on January 1. However, this has not always been the case. In fact, for centuries, other dates marked the beginning of the calendar, including March 25 and December 25.
The designation of January 1 as New Year's Day came about thanks to the Roman king Numa Pompilius. During his reign (715–673 BC), Numa revised the Roman Republican calendar so that January replaced March as the first month. It was a fitting choice, as January was named after Janus, the Roman god of all beginnings; while March was named after the god of war, Mars. But January 1 did not become the official start of the Roman year until 153 BC.
In 46 BC Julius Caesar introduced more changes, although the Julian calendar, as it became known, retained January 1 as the start of the year. As the Roman Empire expanded, the use of the Julian calendar also spread.
In 1582, in addition to solving the problem of leap years, the Gregorian calendar reestablished January 1 as the start of the New Year. While Italy, France, and Spain were among the countries that immediately adopted the new calendar, Protestant and Orthodox nations were slow to adopt it. Great Britain and its American colonies did not begin following the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Before that, they celebrated New Year's Day on March 25.
Over time, non-Christian countries also began to use the Gregorian calendar. China (1912) is a notable example, although it continued to celebrate Chinese New Year according to a lunar calendar. In fact, many countries that follow the Gregorian calendar also have other traditional or religious calendars. Some nations never adopted the Gregorian calendar and thus begin the year on dates other than January 1. Ethiopia, for example, celebrates the New Year (known as Enkutatash) in September.
Lini një Përgjigje