By Ken Bridges, Texas History Minute
The new year is fast approaching. Many wonder what the new year will bring while planning their own ways of ringing in 2026. The time before the new year is often a time for reflection and setting goals and speculation as to what the new year will hold As with any other year, there will be triumph, and there will be heartbreak. But in the meantime, the world will pause to celebrate the end of one year and the hopes for the next.
Many traditions surround New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Eve 1862, the tradition of “Watch Night” began in African American churches across the nation as they awaited the arrival of the new year, with the Emancipation Proclamation going into effect at midnight on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing slaves in areas under Confederate control. The “Watch Night” tradition still continues in many areas. Years later, in New York City, the famous dropping of the Times Square Ball will mark the new year. It is a tradition dating back to New Year’s Eve 1904 when Adolph Ochs, then owner of The New York Times, devised it as a way of celebrating the new year by having the glass ball illuminated with 100 lights lowered on the roof of his newspaper building. Officials estimated that 200,000 people gathered for the event. The modern ball, its fifth incarnation, is glass, six feet in diameter, and weighs more than 1,200 pounds. It was manufactured by Waterford Crystal and has more than 32,000 lights illuminating it with more than 5,000 Waterford crystals to give its dazzling effect. It is the most popular new year’s observance in the United States with more than one million people typically gathering.
Observances of the new year date back thousands of years as ancient peoples recognized the regular shifting patterns of stars at night and the sun in the day and their connection to particular seasons. The earliest observances of January 1 for the beginning of the year began with the Romans around 713 BC. The Romans named the first month of their lunar calendar year January after the Roman god Janus, who supposedly was the god of time and also the god of beginnings and transitions. According to legend, Janus had two faces, one looking into the past and the other looking into the future. It was a day marked with great celebrations.
The tradition of Rosh Hashanah marks the tradition of the Jewish new year, which means “head of the year” in Hebrew, a tradition dating back to the Old Testament. This holiday is not observed in January but sometime in September or October, depending on the lunar calendar. The two-day celebration includes many symbolic foods, including apples dipped in honey to mark a sweet new year. It is a national holiday only in Israel and Ukraine. In 2026, it will begin at sunset on September 11 and run through September 13 and will mark the beginning of the year 5787 on the Jewish calendar.
In most countries throughout the world, January 1 is an official holiday to mark the beginning of the new year. Even many non-western countries will observe January 1 as New Year’s Day because of the overwhelming influence of European and American business and culture for the past few centuries as they ultimately adopted the modern Gregorian calendar used throughout the West, even in officially atheist nations like China.
The Chinese New Year will not start until February 17, as their traditional calendar is a lunar calendar. Under the Chinese Zodiac system dating back many centuries, 2026 will mark the Year of the Horse. In China, the horse is often associated with power and determination, so the Year of the Horse is usually considered a year of decision and action. In China, fireworks are set off to mark the new year and to also scare off demons and forces of darkness.
Similarly, February 17 will mark the traditional Vietnamese New Year, known as Tet. The Vietnamese lunar calendar is very similar to the Chinese calendar. The Vietnamese Zodiac also makes 2026 the Year of the Horse, and people born in those years are often seen as energetic and optimistic. By tradition, Vietnamese households prepare great feasts, family reunions are held, and many celebrations are held in cities across the country. Many in Vietnam see Tet as the beginning of spring as well. Cleaning the home is also part of the traditional observances to symbolically clean out the bad spirits from the previous year.
Different types of food are also associated with the New Year’s celebrations. In India, rice is eaten for prosperity in the new year. Buttered bread is supposed to be good luck in Ireland. In Spain, people traditionally eat 12 grapes at midnight, one at each chime, to bring luck for the year. In the American South, black-eyed peas are eaten for good luck for the new year. Leafy green vegetables like collard greens are supposed to symbolize prosperity.
In some cultures, it is also customary to exchange gifts on New Year’s Day. In Ancient Persia, eggs were given as symbols of fertility in the new year. When observances of Christmas and religion were outlawed in the Soviet Union, Russians responded by shifting gift-giving from Christmas to New Year’s Day. In Scotland, gifts of silverware or pastries are traditionally given for luck. In the Philippines, Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations are often combined.
There are many other superstitions for luck surrounding celebrations. In France, the weather on New Year’s Day is supposed to be an omen for the year’s weather. Brazilians wear white for good luck while households in Puerto Rico sprinkle sugar outside their homes to invite good fortune inside. In Scotland, the first person to enter the home in the new year is also supposed to symbolize a person’s luck for the year.
To this day, New Year’s Day is still a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the days ahead. What 2026 and the years beyond hold is as yet a mystery. But as Winston Churchill once said, “The further in the past we look, the farther ahead we can see.”