why does a new year start now?

[Jim S]

It seems to me the new year should have started about 10 days ago, at the point when the days are the shortest. How did this day become the start of a new year?

Also what is the point of having 12 months - why not just have four "seasons" each about 91 days long.

Just random thoughts I guess.

 

[gawdzillasama]

Look up "calendar revision".  Not an easy  encapsulation.   

[swansont]

1 hour ago, Jim S said:

It seems to me the new year should have started about 10 days ago, at the point when the days are the shortest. How did this day become the start of a new year?

Also what is the point of having 12 months - why not just have four "seasons" each about 91 days long.

Just random thoughts I guess.

 

The Romans are to blame for some of it. Moving the start of the new year when reworking their calendar, going from 10 to 12 months. But there are lots of calendars out there, and the new year doesn’t coincide with the Gregorian (or Julian) calendar. Even in the Julian calendar, new year was not always Jan 1.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year

[Genady]

Anyway, it starts now here.

[gawdzillasama]

I tried celebrating EVERY New Years once. It was a good year. 

[joigus]

8 hours ago, Genady said:

Anyway, it starts now here.

Apparently the New Year is incompatible with local realism.  

[Janus]

On 12/31/2024 at 4:45 PM, Jim S said:

It seems to me the new year should have started about 10 days ago, at the point when the days are the shortest. How did this day become the start of a new year?

Also what is the point of having 12 months - why not just have four "seasons" each about 91 days long.

Just random thoughts I guess.

 

It's a long story. At one time, the year started with March with the period now taken up by January and February just called Winter. This is September, October, November and December, are now the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Months, even though Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec are prefixes for 7, 8, 9, and 10. (there were also months with the prefixes of 5 and 6, but Julius an Augustus Caesar got their hands on them.)  

[Ken Fabian]

On 1/1/2025 at 11:45 AM, Jim S said:

It seems to me the new year should have started about 10 days ago, at the point when the days are the shortest. How did this day become the start of a new year?

Also what is the point of having 12 months - why not just have four "seasons" each about 91 days long.

Just random thoughts I guess.

 

The time of year when it is warmest (S. Hemisphere) or coldest (N. Hemisphere) is about a month after the solstice - because there is some lag time between maximum and minimum sunlight and local temperatures topping or bottoming out. The specific timing is down to historical choices and traditions.

[Genady]

There are two (2) New Years in Russia, the New Year and the Old New Year:

Quote

The New Year by the Julian calendar is still informally observed, and the tradition of celebrating the coming of the New Year twice is widely enjoyed: January 1 (New New Year) and January 14 (Old New Year).

(Old New Year - Wikipedia)

[swansont]

One problem with putting New Year’s day on the solstice is that it moves around - it falls on Dec 20, 21 or 22. A variable length of year might not be the best approach 

[Jim S]

If the day that we now call Dec. 21 would be picked as the start of a new year, it would at least have the significance of starting at some logical point in the earth's orbit. Being a few hours off is better than being 10 days off. The year wouldn't vary in length anymore than it does now - 365.25 days. It just would start being called "new year" 10 days sooner. Leap year would still be needed of course, just like we need it now.

If the calendar could be changed in other times through out history, why not again?

 

[iNow]

It can, but the return isn’t likely worth the investment