Amazing historical facts about the New Year

He talks about the symbolism of New Year's decorations, the first garlands, the appearance of Santa Claus and the creation of the song "A Christmas tree was born in the forest" Life hacker.

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1. The custom of celebrating the New Year appeared in Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. On holidays, statues of the gods swept through the streets of the city, and rituals were also held, symbolizing their victory over the forces of chaos and the purification of the world.

2. New Year's Day January 1 began to be celebrated in 153 BC, since it was on this day that the Roman consuls took office. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar (Julian) and finally approved the beginning of the year from January 1.

3. In ancient Rome, the first day of the new year was dedicated to Janus - the god of choice, doors and all beginnings. He was usually depicted with two faces, one looking forward and the other looking back. It was in honor of Janus that the month of January got its name.

4. The island state of Kiribati is the first in the world to celebrate the New Year, since some of its islands are located in the easternmost time zone - UTC + 14. Here, a new calendar day comes first on Earth. And what is noteworthy is that the time of day there completely coincides with the time in Hawaii (UTC – 10), but shifted one day ahead. That's who exactly lives in the future.

5. The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree originates in Germany and the Baltics. All decorations corresponded to Christian symbolism: apples were hung on the branches, which were symbols of fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, candles meant angelic purity, and the star of Bethlehem was placed on the top of the head. Toys, sweets and nuts appeared on Christmas trees much later.

On the subject: The most unusual New Year traditions from around the world

6. In Russia, the celebration of the New Year was approved by Peter I in 1699. It was by his decree that they began to celebrate this holiday in the country on the night of December 31 to January 1, as in other European countries. Prior to that, each new year began on September 1st.

However, by 1700, most European states had already switched to the Gregorian calendar, and Russia still lived according to the Julian calendar, so the country celebrated its first New Year 13 days later than others.

7. Initially, candles or nut shells with oil and a wick were used to illuminate the trees, but due to the fire hazard, the tree always had to be looked after. In 1882, an inventor named Edward Hibberd Johnson, who worked for Thomas Edison, invented a method of wrapping small light bulbs in red, white, and blue crepe paper. These colored lights are the earliest version of modern Christmas lights.

In 1895, Ralph Morris, an employee of the New England Telephone Company, created the first garland of miniature light bulbs, which he constantly saw in front of his eyes in telephone switches.

8. The well-known song "A Christmas tree was born in the forest" was originally a simple poem, which was published in 1903 in the children's magazine "Baby". Two years later, Leonid Bekman, who has no musical education, composed a melody for him. The song was transcribed by his wife, pianist Elena Bekman-Shcherbina.

9. The prototype of the canonical Father Frost has been known in Russia since 1841. For the first time he was mentioned in the collection "Tales of Grandfather Irenaeus" by Vladimir Odoevsky. There the fairy tale "Moroz Ivanovich" was dedicated to him, where his grandfather lived in an icy country, the entrance to which opens through a well. He did not bring gifts to children, and he was not connected with the holidays. The unification of the image of Moroz Ivanovich with the Christmas tree and the New Year took place only in the second half of the XNUMXth century.

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10. Snegurochka initially had nothing to do with Santa Claus and the New Year, but served as a character in the folk tale about the Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) girl made of snow, who came to life. This story was published in 1869 by Alexander Afanasyev in the second volume of "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature." In 1873, Alexander Ostrovsky, under the influence of Afanasyev's fairy tales, wrote the play The Snow Maiden, where she first appears as the daughter of Santa Claus and Vesna-Krasna.

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