~Happy New Year, Julius Caesar! Thanks for creating this celebration 4,000 years ago making this the oldest holiday. Yep, he gets credit for yet another major event. Caesar made Janus (January) 1st, a national holiday to celebrate the new year. Background: Janus was an interesting Roman god. He was the god of doors and gates. He also had two faces, one was the face of the future and the other, the face of the past.
~If you are in New York for New Year's Eve, you can check out the dropping of the ball which signifies the new year has begun. New York has hosted this event since 1907 with the exception of 1942 and 1943 due to World War II. This massive ball currently weighs in at almost 12,000 pounds and has more than 2,500 Waterford crystals (made in Waterford, Ireland) attached to it. It is a whopping 12 feet in diameter. The original ball was over 700 pounds and 5 feet in diameter. Here is a peek of the ball for 2015 from USA Today.
~In Sydney, Australia, you can watch the more than 80,000 fireworks set off from the Sydney Harbour bridge.
~If you just happen to be in Japan, you will find homes decorated with bamboo stalks for prosperity, a plum blossom to show nobility, and pine branches which symbolize longevity.
~Of course, we have all heard the song Time Goes By for Auld Lang Syne (Time Goes By) a million times. The song was written by a Scottish poet named Robert Burns in 1788.
~When the clock strikes midnight in Britain, people gather around and sing Auld Lang Syne.
~In Norway, a whole almond is added to rice pudding, the one who gets the serving with the almond is guaranteed to be wealthy for the year.
~In Greece, a coin is baked inside a loaf of bread. When the loaf is cut and if the almond is in the third slice of bread, spring will come early.
~If you are in Sicily, you will be served lasagna for good luck. Other types of pastas are considered to bring bad luck.
~More black-eyed peas are eaten on January 1st, than any other day of the year.
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