In Scotland, New Year's Eve is called Hogmanay and 'first footing' remains a popular custom with people visiting friends' and neighbours' houses just after midnight. There are a number of strange and interesting New Year's traditions around the world. Fireworks light up the skies in hundreds of cities as 12 midnight strikes around the globe. The display takes place in Sydney Harbour, with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge making it a stunning setting. In recent years, Sydney in Australia has been the host to one of the first of these celebrations as New Year arrives there before most other major international cities. In many cities all over the world, spectacular fireworks displays take place as soon as the clock passes midnight on 31 December. Statues of the gods were carried through the streets of the city, and in this way the Babylonians believed that their world had been cleaned to prepare for the new year and a new spring. Barley was cut in Mesopotamia in the spring, and during Akitu there was a different ritual on each of the 11 days that the celebration lasted. The Babylonians held their celebrations on the first new moon after the spring equinox and called this festival Akitu (which comes from the word the Sumerians used for barley). The city of Babylon in ancient Mesopotamia was where the first New Year's celebrations were recorded about 4,000 years ago. ![]() The Persians and Phoenicians started their new year at the spring equinox (this is around 20 March when the Sun shines more or less directly on the equator and the length of the night and the day are almost the same). For example, in Egypt the beginning of the year coincided with when the River Nile flooded, and this normally happened when the star Sirius rose. Sometimes these were simply an opportunity for people to eat, drink and have fun, but in some places the festivities were connected to the land or astronomical events. There have been celebrations to mark the beginning of a new year for thousands of years. ![]() I used a plain white board I bought at Staples, you could also use a chalkboard.'For last year's words belong to last year's languageĪnd next year's words await another voice.Īnd to make an end is to make a beginning.' – TS Eliot New year, old celebrations It keeps me motivated and inspires me to do better each week. I love keeping track of my workouts with smiley faces. Read more about home-gyms here and check out great images on our Pinterest board to inspire you to put together the perfect workout space that will meet your needs.
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