January 1st is...

New Year's Day
- With most countries using the Gregorian calendar as their main calendar, New Year's Day is the closest thing to being the world's only truly global public holiday, often celebrated with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts. Did you know that in the United States it is traditional to eat blackeyed peas and hog jowls on New Year's Day? It is believed the more you eat the more money you will have for the year.

National Bloody Mary Day
- This holiday is celebrated by drinking bloody marys on the first day of the new year. Now if your battling a hangover then I expect you will skip celebrating this holiday but if your feeling good enough to drink today then we think you would enjoy sharing a few Bloody Mary drinks with your friends.

Z Day
- It's a day to celebrate those persons whose surnames start with Z! The idea is that everyone with a "Z" name gets to be first in line today instead of last. So, if you have a student in your class room, or an employee that works for you etc. that's last name starts with Z, give them a break today.

First Foot Day
- First Foot Day marks the beginning of the New Year and is said to bring luck. Who dares to enter your home first on New Year's Day? A man MUST be the first person to cross the threshold into our homes on New Years morning and we must not let a women come inside the house until a man does or it's bad luck.

Bad Hangover Day
- This holiday is celebrated by "not" drinking that's for sure! After all last night was New Years Eve and I'm sure you had more than you planned to, right? So today is about getting over a bad hangover by relaxing, resting and trying out all the best "getting over a hangover" ideas you can find.

Great Fruitcake Toss
- This is your opportunity to finally throw away the old fruitcake. After the holidays are over, it's time to bring in the new, and toss out the old. Today is the day that the fruit cake goes....hooray!

Ellis Island Opened
- Ellis Island was opened on New Year’s Day in 1892. Over the years more than 20 million individuals were processed through the stations. The island was used as a point of deportation as well: in 1932 alone, 20,000 people were deported from Ellis Island.

Emancipation Proclamation Takes Effect
- Abraham Lincoln, by executive proclamation of Sept 22, 1862, declared that on this date “ … all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free.…” Slaves in the four slave states that had not seceded from the Union (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri) were not freed until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865.

Baby Boom Birthday
- Kathleen Casey Wilkens, born at one minute after midnight at Philadelphia, PA in 1946, was the first of the almost 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964.

Mummer's Parade
- World-famous New Year’s Day parade of 20,000 spectacularly costumed Mummers in a colorful parade that goes on all day. This celebration has taken place since the 1700s.

New Year's Dishonor List Day
- Since 1976, America’s dishonor list of words banished from the Queen’s English. Overworked words and phrases (e.g., going green, carbon footprint, not so much, bailout, maverick).

Paul Revere's Birthday
- American patriot, silversmith and engraver; maker of false teeth, eyeglasses, picture frames and surgical instruments. Best remembered for his famous ride Apr 18, 1775, celebrated in Longfellow’s poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” Born at Boston, MA on January 1st, 1735.

Australian Commonwealth Anniversary
- On this day in 1901 the six colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory were united into one nation. The British Parliament had passed the Commonwealth Constitution Bill in the spring of 1900, and Queen Victoria signed the document Sept 17, 1900.

National Environmental Policy Act Established
- The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 established the Council on Environmental Quality and made it federal government policy to protect the environment in 1970.

Saint Basil's Day
- St. Basil’s or St. Vasily’s feast day observed by Eastern Orthodox churches. Special traditions for the day include serving St. Basil cakes, each of which contains a coin.

Euro Introduced
- The euro, the common currency of members of the European Union, was introduced for use by financial institutions. The value of the currencies of the 11 nations (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) was locked in at a permanent conversion rate to the euro. Greece joined the eurozone the following year. On Jan 1, 2002, euro bills and coins began circulating; other currencies were phased out as of Feb 28, 2002.

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- This was updated by Catherine on January 1, 2012 -

Category: CDN, January, US, worldwide