Why january is the first month

An American soldier accepts the surrender of about 20 Japanese soldiers who only discovered that the war was over by reading it in the newspaper. On the island of Corregidor, located at the mouth of Manila Bay, a lone soldier on detail for the American Graves Registration was Amid celebration and chaos in the Cuban capitol of Havana, the U. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. US Government. Latin America.

Westward Expansion. Sign Up. After the calendar was created, though, it was used in every corner of the Empire, not just for consistency, but to remind all citizens of Roman authority and Caesar's power. After Rome fell and Christianity spread through Europe, the celebration of the new year was seen as pagan the Romans, after all, had observed the new year's first day by having in drunken orgies , so the first day of the year was moved to a more agreeable date to Christianize it. Some countries started their year on March 25 , the day Christians commemorate the announcement to Mary that she miraculously was pregnant.

Other countries used Christmas Day, December 25, and others used Easter Sunday, no matter what date it fell on. Often, this change only applied to the government calendar's. In common usage, January 1 was still the first day of the year, as regular non-clergy, non-royal folks didn't see a need to change it. This calendrical chaos worked for a while, but a frustrated pope would put an end to it during the Middle Ages.

In , this corresponds with August 9 or 10 in the Gregorian calendar. The following year, 1 Muharram AH corresponds to July 30 , It currently falls on September 11 or 12 in the Gregorian calendar. It used to be celebrated in the middle of July , when Sirius returned to the night sky and the Nile would start flooding the fields. Rosh Hashana usually falls within the Gregorian month of September. People in Sydney, Australia celebrate the new year in the middle of summer.

The old Roman calendar had only ten months. January and February did not exist—the year started in March. January was called mensis ianuarius , the month of Ianus , the ancient Roman god of beginnings, of passage, and time itself. At the start, the Romans used a month calendar. It is theorised that Romulus named the first month Martius after Mars, his son, and god of war. March is, therefore, a derivative of Mars. January was added to the calendar around 70 BC to make 12 months in a year, thus, January and February became the second last and last months of the year respectively.

This is according to the Time and Date website. The month of January was named after Janus, the Roman god of doors and beginnings. Janus is said to have had two faces—one facing forward and the other facing backwards because he knew the past and could look into the future.

This is according to Oxford Dictionaries. According to Live Science, an information resource, Caesar moved the beginning of the year to January 1 because it was the day the two highest elected political officials known as consuls took office.