New Year's Day is the oldest and most universal holiday. Throughout early history, annual harvests provided a primitive way to keep track of years. The end of the harvest marked the beginning of a new year. It was generally celebrated in March on the vernal equinox when the sun crosses the equator in the spring, and when night and day are of equal length everywhere.
The Romans were the first to observe Jan. 1 as New Year's Day in 153 B.C. Julius Caesar developed the Julian calendar in 45 B.C., retaining Jan. 1 as the beginning of the new year.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted the Gregorian calendar still in use today, keeping Jan. 1 as New Year's Day.
Typically, the old year is represented by 'Father Time,' an elderly man with a flowing gray beard, and the new year is represented by an infant.
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