When does the year begin?

Figure 7.20: Artist's version of the precession of Mercury's orbit. Most of the effect is due to the pull from the other planets but there is a measurable effect due to the corrections to Newton's theory predicted by the General Theory of Relativity. \begin{figure} \centerline{ \vbox to 3.8 truein{\epsfysize=8 truein\epsfbox[0 -180 612 612]{7.gtr/prec_mercury.ps}} }\end{figure} When does the year begin? Since the earth orbits the sun you really can pick any date as number "One" and then if you call the time to orbit 'a year' it should be abundantly clear that you needn't have any doubt or fear-- especially if you are a patient waiter-- you'll get back to that date exactly a year later. (However, if you lived on the planet Mercury not only would you be awfully hot but you might have to adjust your clocks a little. though certainly not a lot.) ------------------------------------------------------------------- ​ But you'd have to be MUCH younger than I, to have time enough to study and understand why: PDF]Mercury's Perihelion www.math.toronto.edu/~colliand/426_03/Papers03/C_Pollock.pdf by C Pollock - ‎2003 - ‎Cited by 1 - ‎Related articles Mar 31, 2003 - A calculation of relativistic perihelion shift using Einstein's theory of rel- ... the advance of Mercury's perihelion, was of tantamount importance to ... [PDF]The Precession of Mercury's Perihelion https://www.math.washington.edu/~morrow/.../Genrel.pdf University of Washington by O Biesel - ‎2008 - ‎Related articles The Precession of Mercury's Perihelion. Owen Biesel. January 25, 2008. Contents. 1 Introduction. 2. 2 The Classical Solution. 2. 3 Classical Calculation of the ...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As I was saying, before by myself I was rudely interrupted, New Year's Day in history has been rather corrupted so, given these conditions, why not celebrate more and, as in some traditions, have at least four? HzL 10/1/16 Why Are There Four Jewish New Years? - Judaism - About.com judaism.about.com › About Religion & Spirituality › Judaism › Jewish Culture The Jewish calendar traditionally has four new years days, each with a different purpose. This is ... 5.Traditions for the Month of Elul ... 1st of Nisan: The first new year is the 1st of the Hebrew month of Nisan, usually in the early spring (April). January Joins the Calendar. The first time the new year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 B.C. (In fact, the month of January did not even exist until around 700 B.C., when the second king of Rome, Numa Pontilius, added the months of January and February.) A History of the New Year - Infoplease www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearhistory.html Feedback About this result • Why does the new year begin on January 1? | Earth | EarthSky earthsky.org/earth/why-does-the-new-year-begin-on-january-1 Jan 1, 2016 - And the ancient Greeks celebrated on the winter solstice, around December 20. By the Middle Ages, though, in many places the new year began in March. Around the 16th century, a movement developed to restore January 1 as New Cite Society and Culture > Calendar & Holidays > Major Holidays A History of the New Year A move from March to January by Borgna Brunner Julius Caesar and the Gregorain Calendar New Year's Features New Year's Traditions Rosh Hashannah, Jewish New Year Chinese New Year Muharram, Islamic New Year Saying "Happy New Year!" Around the World The Calendar The Curious History of the Gregorian Calendar Leap Year Explained The Ides of March A Tale of Two Easters April Fools' Day Explained How August Became So August Names of the Months Names of the Days of the Week Calendars and Holidays Encyclopedia: Calendar History of the Calendar The Infoplease Perpetual Calendar The celebration of the new year on January 1st is a relatively new phenomenon. The earliest recording of a new year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C. and was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March. A variety of other dates tied to the seasons were also used by various ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians began their new year with the fall equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice. Early Roman Calendar: March 1st Rings in the New Year The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the new year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. That the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were originally positioned as the seventh through tenth months (septem is Latin for "seven," octo is "eight," novem is "nine," and decem is "ten." January Joins the Calendar The first time the new year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 B.C. (In fact, the month of January did not even exist until around 700 B.C., when the second king of Rome, Numa Pontilius, added the months of January and February.) The new year was moved from March to January because that was the beginning of the civil year, the month that the two newly electedRoman consuls—the highest officials in the Roman republic—began their one-year tenure. But this new year date was not always strictly and widely observed, and the new year was still sometimes celebrated on March 1. Julian Calendar: January 1st Officially Instituted as the New Year In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced a new, solar-based calendar that was a vast improvement on the ancient Roman calendar, which was a lunar system that had become wildly inaccurate over the years. The Julian calendar decreed that the new year would occur with January 1, and within the Roman world, January 1 became the consistently observed start of the new year. Middle Ages: January 1st Abolished In medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the new year were considered pagan and unchristian like, and in 567 the Council of Tours abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1; March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation; and Easter. Gregorian Calendar: January 1st Restored 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. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752. Until then, the British Empire —and their American .......