#13: Why is New Year, New Year?
English Learning for Curious Minds
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Is January 1st New Year?
In the Middle Ages, medieval Europeans considered these celebrations to be pagan and not befitting of Christian values. January 1st as New Year as the year changes is actually quite a modern custom, only just over 250 years old in Britain or in the US. It wasn't until 1752, almost 200 years later, that the British adopted the Gregorian calendar. Before then, the whole of the British Empire, which included the American colonies at that time, used the Julian calendar and used to celebrate the New Year in March. The English Learning for Curious Minds podcast by Leonardo English with me, Alistair Butch airs every week on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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