In what year was New Year’s Day was first celebrated in January?

Question

Apparently it used to be celebrated in March!

Answer 1

153 BC in Rome, according to Wikipedia. Or rather, it began at the day when Roman consuls first entered office, and that day was moved from March 15 to January 1 in 153. When Julius Caesar introduced the new calendar (Julian calendar), the New Year was set to January 1st.

More info from "Has the year always started on 1 January?"

However, the church didn't like the wild parties that took place at the start of the new year, and in C.E. 567 the council of Tours declared that having the year start on 1 January was an ancient mistake that should be abolished.

Through the middle ages various New Year dates were used. If an ancient document refers to year X, it may mean any of 7 different periods in our present system:

1 Mar X to 28/29 Feb X+1
1 Jan X to 31 Dec X
1 Jan X-1 to 31 Dec X-1
25 Mar X-1 to 24 Mar X
25 Mar X to 24 Mar X+1
Saturday before Easter X to Friday before Easter X+1
25 Dec X-1 to 24 Dec X
Choosing the right interpretation of a year number is difficult, so much more as one country might use different systems for religious and civil needs.

The Byzantine Empire used a year starting on 1 Sep, but they didn't count years since the birth of Christ, instead they counted years since the creation of the world which they dated to 1 September 5509 B.C.E.

Since about 1600 most countries have used 1 January as the first day of the year. Italy and England, however, did not make 1 January official until around 1750.

In England (but not Scotland) three different years were used:

The historical year, which started on 1 January.

The liturgical year, which started on the first Sunday in advent.

The civil year, which
from the 7th to the 12th century started on 25 December,
from the 12th century until 1751 started on 25 March,
from 1752 started on 1 January."

In the older Roman calender, the year started with March. That is why the word September means "the seventh month" - not the ninth -, October the eighth, November the eleventh and December the twelfth.

Answer 2

In Britain the Gregorian calendar was not adopted until 1752, and the start of year date was changed to 1st January by the same Act of Parliament. The day following 31st December 1751 was decreed to be 1st January 1752 and 2nd September 1752 was followed by 14th September. As England had taken the year 1700 to be a leap year, the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars now amounted to eleven days. .The year starting 25th March was called the Civil or Legal Year, although the phrase Old Style was more commonly used.

Answer 3

153 BC was the first time New Year's Day was on the first of January.

Answer 4

As far as I know, it's ALWAYS been celebrated in January.

Answer 5

Is it just me but isn't New Years day the 1st of January??????