English
Esperanto 
1 January 2010
One of my favourite words is arbitrary. I don’t like it because it has an interesting etymology, or an interesting spelling, or anything of that sort; it’s because the word is so useful.
Now celebrating the new year on 1 January is completely arbitrary, but since it’s so entrenched in Western culture, I suppose I must wish a happy new year on that date.
The ancient Hebrews started their year on the first day of Tishri, which occurs near the autumnal equinox. (The Jewish new year is still celebrated as Rosh Hashanah, literally ‘Head of the Year’.) They also began the day at sundown rather than midnight.
The Romans apparently set January as the beginning of the civil year because the senate did not meet during the winter months; elections would be held during this time. I suppose it would be convenient to have senators’ terms of office within one calendar year.
The start of the year remained 1 April in some countries for a long time. For example, Samuel Pepys, the English diarist, wrote his January, February and March dates with the same year number as he did the previous December. Though April Fools Day possibly has its origins in ancient festivals such as the Hilaria festival in Rome (which occured on 25 March), another suggestion is that the modern holiday came about as a result of country folk continuing to celebrate the new year on 1 April. (One eighteenth-century book claims that the day has its origins in ‘the fruitless mission of the rook [that is, the raven] who was sent out in search of land from Noah’s flood-surrounded ark’.)
The conventional beginning of the day at midnight seems to be motivated by the desire to have the change of date take place while most people are asleep, or at least not going about their business.
In my opinion, starting the year at the vernal equinox and the day at sunrise seems the most logical, but midnight on 1 January looks like it will remain standard for years to come.
Technically, the new year begins at midnight UTC—something most people seem to ignore. As it is, people celebrate New Year’s Day at different times, some as far as twenty-four hours apart. Think of it—if you live on the East Coast and have friends in California, they’ll be counting down the seconds three hours after you do. That’s why if you live in America, this post might seem a few hours early. But it’s being published at precisely 00:00 UTC on 1 January 2010.
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