New Year's traditions through the ages

If you made a New Year's Resolution, according to historians you just took part in a tradition dating back some 4,000 years.

Babylonians began the annual New Year tradition four centuries ago in mid-late March, during the first full moon after vernal equinox when seasonal crops were planted. Symbolization of the New Year's growing season was represented through a religious 12 day celebration called Akitu.

Babylonians honored and vowed loyalty to their reigning king during Akitu, and addressed the gods by promising to recompense all debts they acquired throughout the previous year. They also guaranteed to return any objects they borrowed throughout the year to their rightful owners.

In return of kept promises made to the gods, favors would be bestowed upon Babylonians in the coming year. If they failed to follow through on their promises, no favors from the gods would take place. Historians claim this was not a place anyone wanted to be during those times.

Throughout history, changes to the tradition of bringing in the New Year have occurred. Although Romans continued to promise good behavior to their gods, Julius Caesar had directed reformation of the Roman calendar around 45 B.C. Caesar modified the calendar to reflect solar and political cycles, which added days to the calendar year.

Taking these sequences into account, the length of a year was calculated at 365 1/4 days, which altered the beginning of the year from Babylonian declared mid-March. Caesar decreed every fourth February a day was to be added, to keep the calendar from falling out of synch due to the quarter day added based off his calculations.

Romans named January after Janus, a two-faced god whose spirit is said to inhabit doorways and arches, looking back into the previous year, while looking ahead to the future. Other month names were changed from Quintilis to July, after Caesar (Julius) and Sextilis became August after Augustus, Caesar's successor.

As time went on, New Year's Day celebration was lost during the Middle Ages, when it was recognized that the correct value for the solar year was not calculated by Caesar. He had calculated the year at 365.242199 and not 365.25, which equates to 11 minutes. Throughout time, these mere 11 minutes added 10 days by the mid-15th century.

Directed by Pope Gregory XIII, astronomer Christopher Clavius was directed to go back to the drawing board in the 1570s. The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582, when Clavius omitted 10 days from the current year, and declared that one of every four centennial years should be a leap year.

And so we have it. After years of calculations, celebrations, and promises to perform good deeds, we have an annually precise entrance for January 1; where the entire world celebrates its arrival.

According to statistics, roughly 45 percent of Americans make New Year's resolutions. Of those, about 8 percent actually achieve their set goal, and 80 percent fail by February. The most trending resolutions are to save money, lose weight/get in shape, enjoy life to the fullest, and quit smoking.