New Year
New Year is the time when a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increases. In many cultures, the event is celebrated in some way. The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, today in use all over the world, falls on 1 January (New Year's Day), as was the case with both the old Roman calendar and the Julian calendar that succeeded it. The order of months was January to December in the Old Roman calendar during the reign of King Numa Pompilius in about 700 BC, according to Plutarch and Macrobius, and has been in continuous use since that time. In many countries, such as the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the United States, 1 January is a national holiday.
During the Middle Ages in western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, New Year's Day was variously moved, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, among them: 1 March, 25 March, Easter, 1 September, and 25 December. These New Year's Day changes were generally reversed back to January 1 before or during the various local adoptions of the Gregorian calendar, beginning in 1582. The change from March 25 - Lady Day, one of the four quarter days - to January 1 took place in Scotland in 1600, before the ascension of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 or the formation of the United Kingdom in 1707. In England and Wales (and all British dominions, including the American colonies), 1751 began on March 25 and lasted 282 days, and 1752 began on January 1. For more information about the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar and the effect on the dating of historical events etc., see Old Style and New Style dates.
A great many other calendars have been in use historically throughout the world, some of which count years numerically, and others that do not. The
expansion of Western culture during recent centuries has seen such widespread official adoption of the Gregorian calendar that its recognition and that of January 1 as the New Year has become virtually global. For example, at the New Year celebrations held in Dubai to mark the start of 2014, the world record was broken for the most fireworks set off in a single display, which lasted for six minutes and saw the use of over 500,000 fireworks.
Nevertheless, regional or local use of other calendars persists, along with the cultural and religious practices that accompany them. In many places (such as Israel, China, and India), New Year's is also celebrated at the times determined by these other calendars. In Latin America, the observation of traditions belonging to various native cultures continues according to their own calendars, despite the domination of subsequent cultures. The most common dates of modern New Year's celebrations are listed below, ordered and grouped by their appearance relative to the Gregorian calendar.
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in the Empire since 45 BC. Romans originally dedicated New Year's Day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings after whom the first month of the year (January) is named. Later, as a date in the Gregorian calendar
of Christendom, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, and is still observed as such in the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church. In present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their de facto calendar, New Year's Day is probably the world's most celebrated public holiday often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone.
New Year's Eve. January 1 represents the fresh start of a new year after a period of remembrance of the passing year, including on radio, television and in newspapers, which starts in early December in countries
around the world. Publications have year-end articles that review the changes during the previous year. In some cases publications may set their entire year work alight in hope that the smoke emitted from the flame brings new life to the company. There are also articles on planned or expected changes in the coming year.
This day is traditionally a religious feast, but since the 1900s has also become an occasion to celebrate the night of December 31, called New Year's Eve. There are fireworks at midnight at the moment the New Year arrives (the major one is in Sydney, New South Wales; watch night services are also still observed by many.
Happy New Year
Abba
No more champagne And the fireworks are through Here we are, me and you Feeling lost and feeling blue It's the end of the party And the morning seems so grey So unlike yesterday Now's the time for us to say
Happy New Year Happy New Year
May we all have a vision now and then Of a world where every neighbor is a friend Happy New Year Happy New Year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try If we don't we might as well lay down and die You and I
Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives And I see how it thrives In the ashes of our lives Oh yes, man is a fool And he thinks he'll be okay Dragging on, feet of clay Never knowing he's astray Keeps on going anyway
Happy New Year Happy New Year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend Happy New Year Happy New Year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try If we don't we might as well lay down and die You and I
Seems to me now That the dreams we had before Are all dead, nothing more Than confetti on the floor It's the end of a decade In another ten years' time Who can say what we'll find What lies waiting down the line In the end of eighty-nine
Happy New Year Happy New Year
May we all have a vision now and then Of a world where every neighbor is a friend Happy New Year Happy New Year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try If we don't we might as well lay down and die You and I
Sources
http://www.lyricsfreak.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://learningrussian.net
Н.В. Никитин
Сведения об авторе: Никитин Никита Вячеславович, учитель английского и немецкого языков, ГБОУ гимназия №1636 «НИКА», Москва. E-mail: nikitaenglish@mail.ru
Ключевые слова: New Year, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, Abba "Happy New Year".
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