INFORMATIONS :
The celebration of the new year on January
1st is a relatively new phenomenon. The earliest recording of a new year
celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C. and was
celebrated around the time of the vernal
equinox, in mid-March. A variety of other dates tied to the seasons were
also used by various ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and
Persians began their new year with the fall equinox, and the Greeks
celebrated it on the winter
solstice.
