The origins of our calendars

On January 1st, people worldwide celebrate the start of a new year. But do you ever wonder why does our year start in January? And who made the months anyway? There’s a history tied to the new year and our calendars.

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Believe it or not, humans have been celebrating New Year for a long time. The earliest evidence of a new year celebration dates back to 2000 BC. It’s believed that the Mesopotamians observed the spring equinox as they celebrated the new year. The sun crosses the equator from the southern to the northern hemisphere, signalling the end of winter and the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.

Other ancient societies, in addition to Mesopotamia, celebrated the New Year. The Egyptians commemorated it during the Autumn Equinox when the sun appeared straight above the equator for the first time in the year. On the other hand, the Greeks observed it during the Winter Solstice, when the sun is farthest south and travels the shortest distance. The winter solstice day has the least sunshine and the longest night.

So the tradition of celebrating the arrival of a new year is quite old. However, the practice of celebrating it in January is relatively new. In the Early Roman calendar, New Year was celebrated on March 1st; thus, March was the year’s first month. Even now, the names of months reflect this fact.  Previously, September was the seventh month, October 8th, November 9th, and December 10th. There were only ten months on the calendar.

The second roman emperor, Numa Pompilius, added the month of Ianuarias (later January would be derived from it)  and Februarias to the calendar. Making it a 12-month calendar, akin to the one we use now.

The shift of the new year from March 1st to Ianuarias happened after 153 BC when the 1st of Ianuarias came to represent the beginning of the Roman civil year. This was the day when new consuls were inaugurated every year. Roman used to date their year by these consulships rather than sequentially. Moving New Year from March 1st to Ianuarias solved a logistical issue and aligned the datings.

The Roman Emperor Julius Caesar proposed a reformed Roman Calendar in 46 BC. The new calendar, called the Julian Calendar, had 12 months. The first month was called January, named after Roman god Janus,  the dual-faced god of beginnings and doorways. Thus symbolising a transition from an old year to a new one.

Furthermore, unlike the early Roman calendar, which was a lunar calendar (based on the moon) and had grown incorrect over time, the new Julian calendar was solar (based on the sun). The Julian calendar remained the dominant calendar in the Western world for some 1600 years.

The new year in the Roman Empire was celebrated with pomp and show, gift-giving and merry-making. However, during the medieval year, with the advent of Christianity, the celebration that accompanied New Year began to be considered pagan and unchristian like. And the counsel of Tours in 567CE abolished January 1st as the beginning of New year. Throughout medieval Europe, the new year was then celebrated around different days of importance in Christianity, December 25th or the birth of Jesus, March 1st or the feast of annunciation, i.e. the day when archangel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary and informed her that she’d give birth to Jesus, March 25th or Easter, i.e. celebration to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion.

In 1582 a reformed form of the Julain calendar was restored by Pope Gregory XIII and hence called the Gregorian calendar. He reformed the Julian calendar so that the date of Easter would align with the date established by the early Church. Because of an incorrect assumption in the Julian calendar, the calendar date of the spring equinox has drifted from the observed reality. Since Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the Spring equinox, the deviation in the calculation of the date of Spring equinox subsequently affected the date of Easter too.

The Gregorian calendar reform also restored January 1st as the new year day, as we know now. Almost all the Catholic countries adopted the changes immediately, and now the vast majority of the world uses this calendar.