Worldwide · January 1, 2026

New Year's Day

January 1 — the start of the Gregorian year.

What happened

January is named for Janus, the Roman god of doorways, who is drawn with two faces: one looking back and one looking forward. The Gregorian calendar fixed 1 January as the start of the year in 1582; Britain and its colonies did not adopt it until 1752, so there are American records where the year changes in March.

Why it stuck

Most of the world starts its year here, but not all of it — Lunar New Year, Rosh Hashanah, Nowruz and Diwali all begin years too. A calendar is a choice somebody made.

What a family can do

Write one sentence about the year behind and one about the year ahead. Seal them. Open them next January.

Questions to work through

1. Janus has two faces. Draw him, and label what each face sees.
2. Britain changed calendars in 1752 and eleven days disappeared. Work out which dates never happened.
3. Name three other new years the world keeps, and when they fall.