Random Fact Tuesday- New Years Edition.

• 1907 – New York’s famous ball drops for the first time from Times Square on New Year’s Eve. It was a five foot ball made out of wood and iron, weighed 700 lbs, and included 100 25-watt bulbs.

• The ball has been dropped every year, except in 1942 and 1943 due to wartime lighting restrictions.

• 63% of people are still keeping their resolutions after the first two months.

• Many asians will eat sticky rice around midnight on New Year’s Day to ensure a year of prosperity and good fortune.

• In Scotland, New Year’s Day is often considered more important than Christmas. It dates back to the time of pagan festivals for the winter solstice.

• The concept of making resolutions for the New Year dates back thousands of years to the Babylonians.

• Some people believe that nothing, including the trash, should be emptied on New Year’s Day. They consider it bad luck and an omen of a truly bad year to come.

• The most famous of all New Year’s Day parades, The Tournament of Roses, dates back before the turn of the last century in 1890.

• The most common New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight. About 60% of all Americans will establish that resolution this year.

• In Holland, they eat donuts on New Year’s Day because the round shape is believed to express a full circle of life from one year to the next.

• Dick Clark has not appeared on Dick Clark’s Rockin New Year’s Eve special since 2003.

• Starting around the year 2000 B.C., the Babylonians observed the beginning of spring as the start of a new year.

• The Spanish ritual on New Year’s eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure twelve happy months in the coming year.

• It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since. The early Christians believed the first day of the new year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the new year.

• On New Year’s Eve, about 75% of American Parties are with 20 people or less.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year!!!!!