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Travel Advisor
Last-minute New Year's tips
Our travel expert reassures the Bali-bound Y2K-minded and offers Seattle celebration suggestions.
By Donald D. Groff
[12/23/99]

Out of the Blue
'Tis the season to be pissed off
Too many bags and too few bins make frequent flyers cry foul.
By Elliott Neal Hester
[12/22/99]

It's a bird, it's a plane -- it's SkyMall!
Where can you order an indoor/outdoor miniature golf course for only $18,999.95? In the mother ship of all catalogs.
By Christine Kenneally
[12/21/99]

The empire winds down
China's assumption of control over Macau on Sunday writes the final verse in the epic of European colonization in Asia.
By Morris Dye
[12/18/99]

Wanderlust
A thousand welcomes
He got me to sing -- pretty good for a one-day marriage.
By Chrystyna K. Lucyk
[12/17/99]

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Usually, a naturally recurring event would mark the date of a new year. An annual change in the weather, the beginning or end of a growing season, or the return of an important food source (animal or vegetable) would signal the start of the festivities.

It was the ancient Romans, however, who decided to celebrate New Year's on the first of January, a day when nothing special was happening in nature. At the time they had a calendar that divided the year into 10 months. The first month was March and the last was December. At the end of December, everyone stopped counting for 60 days until March got started. It was a very confusing policy.

In 153 B.C., a Roman general noticed that the Egyptians had filled in the blank time with two new months and he mentioned it to the Roman Senate. The politicians loved it, immediately introduced January and February and marked the first of January as the official opening day of the New Year. This was an extraordinary change from the past. Suddenly it was Man taking charge over Nature.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was confused as to which day should be used to start the new year. Some communities liked autumn for the start of their new year. We still feel that influence: The school year starts in the fall, many corporations begin their fiscal year in the fall and, as we are never allowed to forget, the new television season begins in the fall.

Originally, the French tied the start of their new year to the arrival of Easter Sunday. They celebrated the rebirth of the year along with the birth of Christ, combining two important festivals of regeneration in one. The fact that spring was a time for good eating didn't hurt. The produce was younger and the wine was older. The French have always understood the importance of coordinating their gatherings and celebrations with what's good to eat.

Britain celebrated New Year's Day on December 25th until William the Conqueror had himself crowned on January 1, 1067, and thought it would be nice to move New Year's to that date.

Italy liked their New Year's on Christmas Day until 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII decreed that the Church follow a new system (humbly named the Gregorian calendar), which chose January 1 as its starting date.

Next page | Hide some money outside your house on New Year's Eve