BaalChatzaf Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 What is so special about Jan. 1? Nothing actually, at least nothing I can think of. There is no astronomical significance to the day. Unlike the Saturnalia which is the day of the Winter Solstice (the Christians stole that and turned it into Christmas and still got the date wrong), nothing in the heavens distinguishes the day. What about a religious significance. Unless you want to invoke the Brit Milah of Y'shuah bar Yosef (circumcision), aka Jesus of Nazareth* there is nothing special there. The only thing special about the day is that the year number is increased by 1 and the date is set to Jan. 1, hence 1/1/xxxx. That is bound to happen on some day unless one wishes an unending calendar. A similar bit of nonsense occurs on days beginning the century. If we had a non-arbitrary number system, that would not happen. Double and triple zeros will happen in any positional system. O.K. Is there any historical significance to Jan 1? I have searched my memory and have come up with none. Maybe one of you guys knows an answer to that question. If you do, please share.Ba'al Chatzaf* if one takes the divinity of Jesus seriously, a question arises. Did his clipped off foreskin have a halo around it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Bob,The answer is obvious. All of recorded human history was (and is) in a conspiracy to piss you off. Happy New Year everybody!Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Michael; Good reply! We do have fun with Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybird Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 (edited) I suspect that the 1 January start of the year is, in part, a side-effect of Christmas being observed on 25 December. That date extends back, in permutations, to both pagan and Roman celebrations of the Winter solstice. In turn, 1 January is the soonest start of a month after that observance.What we forget, about that last, was that 1 January gained this role as a sidebar to the Gregorian calendar reform. The dates that came to be called "Old Style" involved more than the correction to the accumulated leap-year errors of the Julian calendar. (When first instituted in southern Europe, the correction was 9 days. In the 1750s, 11 days were dropped throughout the British Empire. Today, the Eastern Orthodox calendar, still Julian, has a 13-day variance.)The previous custom was to mark the change of a year on the Spring equinox, 22 March, presumably from its heralding a rebirth of life. (In the Northern Hemisphere, anyway.)George Washington was born on 22 February 1732, but when he was a month old, it was considered to be New Year's Day of 1733. Dates before the New Year's shift and the dropped-days correction were marked as "O.S." dates, with that abbreviation still visible on tombstones in the eastern states.If you've ever wondered why horoscope listings typically begin with Aries, rather than Capricorn, it's because the change of a year used to be seen as happening with the sign of Aries. Edited January 2, 2008 by Greybird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfonso Jones Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 What is so special about Jan. 1? Nothing actually, at least nothing I can think of. There is no astronomical significance to the day. Unlike the Saturnalia which is the day of the Winter Solstice (the Christians stole that and turned it into Christmas and still got the date wrong), nothing in the heavens distinguishes the day. What about a religious significance. Unless you want to invoke the Brit Milah of Y'shuah bar Yosef (circumcision), aka Jesus of Nazareth* there is nothing special there. The only thing special about the day is that the year number is increased by 1 and the date is set to Jan. 1, hence 1/1/xxxx. That is bound to happen on some day unless one wishes an unending calendar. A similar bit of nonsense occurs on days beginning the century. If we had a non-arbitrary number system, that would not happen. Double and triple zeros will happen in any positional system. O.K. Is there any historical significance to Jan 1? I have searched my memory and have come up with none. Maybe one of you guys knows an answer to that question. If you do, please share.Ba'al Chatzaf* if one takes the divinity of Jesus seriously, a question arises. Did his clipped off foreskin have a halo around it?How about this: It is not special because of any astronomical or historical fact. It is instead special because people CHOSE to have it be special. They CHOSE to have a day to reflect on accomplishments of the past year, and to think of the future. ANy other day could have been chosen, but this one was chosen.Nothing deep. No conspiracy involved. Alfonso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Nothing deep. No conspiracy involved. AlfonsoNot a conspiracy at all. Just a mindless habit. I choose to celebrate Last Tuesday. Why? Because God created the heavens and the earth Last Tuesday, us along with everything else, complete with false memories making us think the cosmos is billions of years old. Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 O.K. Is there any historical significance to Jan 1? I have searched my memory and have come up with none. Maybe one of you guys knows an answer to that question. If you do, please share.Didn't Ayn Rand write a play called "Night of January 1"?--Brant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 O.K. Is there any historical significance to Jan 1? I have searched my memory and have come up with none. Maybe one of you guys knows an answer to that question. If you do, please share.Didn't Ayn Rand write a play called "Night of January 1"?--BrantJanuary 16.Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 O.K. Is there any historical significance to Jan 1? I have searched my memory and have come up with none. Maybe one of you guys knows an answer to that question. If you do, please share.Didn't Ayn Rand write a play called "Night of January 1"?--BrantJanuary 16.Ba'al ChatzafThat was a rhetorical question. Sigh.--Brant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I thought it was a quip...Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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