How Does January 1 and the forgotten history of the New Year Work?

January 1 is like the start button on your favorite video game, it’s when everything resets and a new adventure begins.

January 1 is the day we say, “Okay, let’s start fresh!” But did you know that New Year didn’t always begin on January 1? That’s like if your video game used to start in the middle of level 3, it just felt weird!

Long ago, people celebrated the New Year with a big festival called the Roman Saturnalia, which was super fun and lasted for days. But over time, they changed things around and picked January 1 as the new start because that’s when the Roman king, Janus, the god of beginnings, was honored.

Even though we now count down to January 1 with excitement, there are still people who remember how things used to be. It's like having a favorite toy that you used to play with every day, and then one day, you got a new toy, and the old one was forgotten.

So, January 1 is our start button, but it’s not the only way to begin a New Year, just the most popular one! January 1 is like the start button on your favorite video game, it’s when everything resets and a new adventure begins.

January 1 is the day we say, “Okay, let’s start fresh!” But did you know that New Year didn’t always begin on January 1? That’s like if your video game used to start in the middle of level 3, it just felt weird!