New Years Day is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago, and was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March. Various other ancient cultures used different dates tied to the seasons. The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians began their new year with the fall equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice.The Romans observed the new year beginning in March, but their calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. The Julian calendar decreed that the new year would occur with January 1, and within the Roman world, January 1 became the start of the new year.

Although in the first centuries AD the Romans continued celebrating the new year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. As Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different. At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus.

In 1582, the Gregorian calendar reform restored January 1 as new year's day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually adopted among Protestant countries.

Today of course the western world continues to celebrate the new year on January 1st.