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New Year’s Eve is December 31 of every year. It is celebrated in countries that use the Gregorian calendar with the United States, Australia, British Isles, North & South America, Europe, Scandinavia and (the former) Soviet Union as the main regions in the world who welcome in a new year.
It is exactly at the stroke of midnight on December 31 of the current year that marks the transition to the New Year ahead. Celebrations may be wild parties or solemn times of prayer. Some participants will dress up in silly outfits and wear comical hats, drink champagne (or other liquors of their choice) and use traditional items called “noisemakers” to express their joy and hope for the New Year ahead. Unfortunately, with some people this celebratory behavior gets taken a bit too far. Some people have been known to make improper advances to co-workers at parties, throw their arms around total strangers on the streets or in crowds and well perhaps to other things that would be considered totally unacceptable any other day of the year.
And yet, there are others who attend midnight masses at their church or synagogue; or, get together in large crowds such as New York City’s Time Square to watch the “ball drop.” In London crowds gather in Trafalgar Square to count down the closing of the old year and welcome in the new. In Atlanta, Georgia (USA) a giant Peach is dropped. This began as a competition with New York’s Apple. However, today New York now drops a laser and hand-cut crystal ball.
Some historians feel that our New Year’s Eve celebrations can be traced back to an ancient Roman observance around the time of the Winter Solstice in December called “Saturnalia.” This pagan holiday was known for totally letting go all discipline and rules for behavior and was known to get out of hand (just like some New Year’s Eve celebrations today).
In the 18th century, New Year’s Eve revelry in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore often ended with street demonstrations, violence, and vandalism. Groups of men and boys were known to toot tin horns, shout, scream, yell, set off firecrackers, knock down barricades such as fences and gates, break windows and (in a few cases) burglarize the homes of some wealthy citizens in the area.
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Source: www.cojoweb.com
