APDG ~ New Year's Day - 1/1

Did any of you know that January 1st is New Year’s Day? Well of course you do!

New Year’s Day gives you the opportunity to .... you guessed it......, watch the parades, share a nice meal with family, etc.

New Year’s Day is a holiday that is observed on the first day of January on the Gregorian calendar – which is January 1st. For many people, it is seen as the end of the holiday season and it is also a day in which many people start their New Year resolutions. The arrival of the New Year is usually met with much fanfare – which usually includes fireworks, parties and people kissing their significant others. For the past 4,000 years, human civilizations all over the globe have recognized the arrival of a new year. Babylonians had the earliest record of ancient New Year Day’s festivities, although theirs wasn’t held on January 1st. Their New Year’s Day was held after the vernal equinox – what is considered by many to be the arrival of spring that occurs between March 20th and March 23rd. Babylonians would mark this day with a festival called Akitu – a religious festival that commemorated the Spring harvest. The name for this holiday, Akitu, actually means “barley” in Sumerian. This ritual would take place over the course of eleven days and would start with prayers being recited to the public. That's because this day actually served three functions at once. It not only celebrated the beginning of the New Year and the victory of the mythical god Marduk over the primordial goddess of the sea, Tiamat but is also the day in which a new king was crowned. Over the years, different civilizations have observed New Year’s Day in different ways and on different days. The Egyptians would begin their new year when the annual flooding of the Nile occurred. In Persia, the New Year was observed for a period of 13 days after the beginning of the vernal equinox. In China, it was observed on the second new moon that occurred after the arrival of the winter solstice. It wasn’t until 46 BC that Julius Caesar decided that New Year’s Day should fall on January 1st. It is believed it was set up this way because January is named after the god Janus – which is the god of new beginnings. Over the many centuries following the murder of Caesar, January 1st alternated being a holiday and not being one. In 567 AD, the Council of Tours decided that January 1st shouldn’t be New Year’s Day. It was decided that it should be celebrated on December 25th. During the 7th century, it was reinstated briefly before it was discontinued again. It wouldn’t be until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar during the 16th century that it would be reinstated on a permanent basis.

While New Year’s Day celebrations differ from one country to the next, there are some similarities between many countries. For instance, in a lot of different countries, the festivities begin on New Year’s Eve and continue into midnight of New Year’s Day. In many countries, this coincides with a countdown to midnight. In the U.S., the traditional dropping of a giant ball takes place in New York City’s Times Square. Originally, the ball was 12-foot sphere that weighed around 700 pounds and was made of wood & metal. However, it has grown over the years. It is now a sphere that’s 12 feet in diameter and weighs almost 12,000 pounds.

In many English speaking countries, the U.S included, the song “Auld Lang Syne” is after the clock strikes midnight. It is also during this time that many people make New Year’s Day Resolutions or promises to themselves. These resolutions are usually related to some form of self-improvement like quitting smoking or losing weight. It is believed that this practice of making resolutions goes all the way back to the Babylonians who would make promises in order to curry favor with the gods.

It is also common for many countries to have firework displays after the stroke of midnight. Many people choose to celebrate the New Year with a feast and the foods used to celebrate this day can be as diverse as the countries involved, and in many instances, the foods eaten are thought to bring good luck. In the Southern United States, it is common to celebrate with black eyed peas. In Spain, 12 grapes are eaten at the stroke of midnight. It Italy, legumes are consumed and are considered lucky. In some cultures, pork is considered to herald prosperity and the New Year’s Day meal is centered around it. This is especially true in the United States, Austria, Cuba and Portugal. Oftentimes sauerkraut is served with the pork. In Nordic countries, oftentimes a rice pudding with an almond hidden in it is served. It is believed that the person who finds it will have an entire year of good fortune.

However, one of the most time-honored New Year’s Day traditions is to stay home and recover from the overindulges in food and alcohol the night before. Usually, there are parades held all over the world and these are often televised, so it gives those who are nursing a hangover or an upset stomach something to do while they recover.

Next onto our swap:

Post THREE (3) pictures and/or gifs to each of your THREE (3) partner's profiles with the theme "New Year’s Day". The pictures that you choose may be the SAME OR DIFFERENT between all of your partners. Please choose pictures that you think THEY will enjoy!

Only people with well filled out profiles may participate in this swap. I will be checking the night before partners get assigned.

If you get 3 pictures from your partner on "New Year’s Day" you have to rate them a 5. The heart on the rating is for if you like what they sent.

To leave a photo on someone's profile use this code ! [ ] ( Put image address here ) With NO spaces & paste the picture's link between the curved parentheses.

Practice on your own profile first to be sure it looks good because you can easily delete there.

Pick images that are size 300 wide or smaller to be sure they fit. I go to Google images to get my pictures.

Hover over images to see their size because there will be some larger sizes there too. If you really like something click on it and go to the words SEARCH BY IMAGE and click on that. THEN go to the word SMALL and see if there is one 300 size. There are other tricks in the group thread; AN EASY way to get a small PIC from a BIG one;-)

You can find moving pictures at http://giphy.com/

Please write the TITLE OF THE SWAP ON YOUR PROFILE DECO MESSAGE too! This makes it easier for partners that are in a lot of these swaps to rate it.

Any problems, feel free to contact me.

I want to thank @anrtist for allowing me to borrow SOME of her wording.