New Years Day
The hangover is real. The resolutions are made. The parade is on. You rest.
United States Edition
New Years Day leads today's complete edition for United States.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
The hangover is real. The resolutions are made. The parade is on. You rest.
United States federal public holiday.
The calendar flips and every Argentine household is eating vitel tone, the cold sliced beef with tuna sauce that somehow became the definitive New Year dish. Toasts happen with cider, not champagne, and the pan dulce from the panaderia sits half-eaten on the counter until someone finishes it off at merienda the next day.
The whole country moves slow after last night's festivities. Sydney Harbour fireworks are still playing on every TV, and someone's dad is already firing up the barbie for a leftovers lunch. Recovery happens poolside or beachside, thongs on, cold tinny in hand.
National holiday. The dzezva comes out before noon because Bosnians do not nurse hangovers with water. By afternoon someone has already proposed kafa at a kafana and you will not see your couch again until evening. Every New Year starts the same way: with good intentions about being productive and a coffee that turns into four hours.
Jordan observes the Gregorian new year, and Amman celebrates with fireworks over the Citadel and family gatherings. The new year is a secular holiday in a country that observes both Islamic and Christian calendars, and the celebration is inclusive: Muslims, Christians, and Druze all celebrate, and the only thing that is not inclusive is the traffic.
The TV is on. The snacks are ready. The teams play. You watch.
The bottle was opened. The guests have left. The bubbles are flat. You drink.
It is simple. It is real. It is yours. You start today.
You encounter Samoan flying foxes, Pacific pigeons, and endemic Samoan parrots as the most iconic wildlife native to Samoa. You see that dogs, cats, chickens, and pigs are commonly kept as pets by Samoan families and farmers. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.
You reach for Keo and Carlsberg Cyprus beers, which dominate the island's social gatherings and taverna culture. You recognize these brands as essential to Cypriot hospitality and the rhythm of Mediterranean summer life.
Across the South, from Virginia to Texas, families eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day for luck and money. The tradition dates to the Civil War, when Union troops destroyed Confederate food supplies but left the black-eyed peas because they considered them animal feed. The peas became a symbol of survival. If you skip the peas, your year is already worse. Some families add a dime to the pot. Whoever gets the dime gets extra luck, and also a chipped tooth.
On New Year's Day in Philadelphia, tens of thousands of Mummers in sequins, feathers, and makeup parade down Broad Street. The parade has four divisions: Comics, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades. The String Bands play instruments while performing choreographed routines. The AHA! moment: the Mummers Parade has been running since 1901, which makes it the oldest folk parade in America. The costumes cost tens of thousands of dollars. The men wear sequined suits and parasols. They have been doing this for 125 years, and they will not stop.
Thousands of Americans choose to start the year by running into freezing water. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club has done this since 1903. In Wisconsin, they cut a hole in the ice of Lake Michigan and jump in. In Seattle, they plunge into Puget Sound. The water is 40 degrees. Nobody can explain why. The best theory is that if you survive this, the rest of the year is easy.