Happy New Year 2024 - A Time for New Beginnings & Past Remembrances

by Cindy Kay Stewart

From All the Authors at Heroes, Heroines, & History

To All Our Readers

H A P P Y   N E W  Y E A R !

May God's Richest Blessings Pour Out Upon You

In Ways You Never Imagined

In This New Year

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Today I’m sharing New Year’s trivia.

Americans enjoy ringing in the new year in many ways. Here are some of them:

• Singing “Auld Lang Syne” (translated “for old times’ sake”) – this tradition originated in Scotland, based on the ancient poem Robert Burns set to paper and submitted to the Scots musical museum. According to Scotland.org, the song is “about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year.” This tradition has spread all over the world.

Times Square Ball 2010 by Susan Serra -
Creative Commons

• Dropping the New Year Ball at Times Square in New York City - begun in 1907 with an illuminated iron and wood ball, the current 12-foot diameter ball, weighing nearly 12,000 pounds and covered with Waterford Crystal, starts it’s one-minute descent at 11:59 PM and arrives at its destination promptly at 12:00 AM of the new year. Other public drops include pickles (Dillsburg, PA) and possums (Tallapoosa, GA).

• Honking horns, blowing whistles, lighting fireworks, and setting off firecrackers at midnight on New Year’s Eve – many of these traditions started in other countries.

Sparrowman980 at English Wikipedia

    Watching the . . . 

          Rose Parade (est. 1890)

          Rose Bowl (est. 1902),
          
          Orange Bowl (est. 1935),

          Sugar Bowl (est. 1935)

          College Football Games

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Notable Americans born on January 1st:

1735 - Paul Revere, silversmith and U. S. Patriot from Revolutionary War days

1752 - Betsy Ross, seamstress credited with making the 1^st American flag

1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, 1^st director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (served from 1935-1972)

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Historical events which took place around the world on January 1st:

630 - Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that captures it bloodlessly

Charles II - Wikipedia

1651 - Charles II Stuart is crowned king of Scotland (later becomes king of England, Scotland, and Ireland)

1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between New York and Boston 

1800 - Dutch East India Company dissolves

1801 - Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain

1808 - U.S. Congress prohibits the importation of slaves

1863 - Emancipation Proclamation is signed by Abraham Lincoln to free slaves in the U.S. confederate states

1892 - Ellis Island in New York Harbor opens where immigrants to the U.S. are processed until 1954

Ellis Island, 1892 - Wikipedia

1902 Radio - Wikipedia

1902 - 1st public demonstration of the radio takes place in Pennsylvania

USSR State Emblem, 1923 -
Wikipedia

1923 - Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR) is established

1928 - 1st U.S. air-conditioned office building opens (San Antonio, TX)

1958 - European Economic Community (Common Market) starts operations

                            1962 - U.S. Navy SEALs established

U.S. Navy SEALs Insignia - Wikipedia

1985 - Internet's Domain Name System is created

1992 - Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is renamed the Russian Federation, becoming the successor state to the Soviet Union

Euro Banknotes & Coins - Wikipedia

2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states

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Sources: onthisday.com

              historyplace.com

              history.com

What New Year's tradition or event is special to you?

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It’s late August, 1939, and the Nazis are threatening Poland. American teacher Irena Simmons will let nothing interfere with her work, especially her former classmate Jonathan Huntwell, who surprises her in Lvov and insists she leave with him before the war starts. The Gestapo agent Irena successfully evaded in Germany finds her and tries to take the little German boys she whisked to safety the year before. After the Nazis invade, the rising danger threatens everything Irena holds dear, and Jonathan is too far away to help. She must find a way to escape with the children before it’s too late. Find in KU on Amazon.      

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Cindy Kay Stewart, a retired high school social studies teacher and current church pianist, writes stories of hope, steeped in love, and anchored in faith. Her manuscripts have won the Touched by Love Award, the First Impressions contest, and the Sandra Robbins Inspirational Writing Award. They've also finaled in the Maggie Award of Excellence and the Cascade Awards, and semi-finaled in the Genesis contest. Cindy is passionate about revealing God’s handiwork in history. She resides in North Georgia with her college sweetheart and husband of forty-two years. Her daughter, son-in-law, and four adorable grandchildren live nearby. Cindy’s currently writing the Circle of Hope series set in WWII Europe.

New Year's Trivia

Tonight, millions of people will celebrate the new year. In the United States, New Year's Eve is celebrated with fancy parties and concerts, family-oriented activities, and public events such as firework shows and "drops." My husband and I tend to stay home, unless we go out to dinner or to an early movie or over to a friend's house to play games.

I thought it might be interesting to talk about some New Year's Eve and Day trivia today. For starters, did you know that New Year's wasn't always celebrated on January 1st? 

The early Roman calendar designated March 1st, as the new year. The calendar had just ten months then, beginning with March. Later, the calendar was extended by two months, but even before the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted as the standard, people had already begun celebrating New Years Day on January 1st.

The New York ball drop is over 100 years old. The first drop was in 1907, which is about six weeks after my home state of Oklahoma became a state. The ball has dropped every year, except for a couple during World War II.

The New Year's Eve kiss has been around since the Middle Ages. Historians say that it originated with German or English folklore, which believed that the first person you kissed would set the tone for the new year.

On January 1, 1788, Quakers in Pennsylvania freed their slaves, anticipating the emancipation of chattel slaves in the United States that occurred some seventy-five years later.

In some parts of the world, to insure a healthy household in the coming year, it is customary for the head of the household to spank his wife on New Years Day.

Queen Victoria became empress of India on January 1, 1877.

In 1969, Congress introduced the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which would ban cigarette ads from TV and radio, mostly because of the FCC's urges that the ads broke the Fairness Doctrine. The act was signed on April 1, 1970, but didn't go into effect until January 2, 1971.

Ricky Nelson
(film studio [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Ricky Nelson, an America rock and roll star died on December 31st, 1985 when his plane crashed, just two miles from the landing strip. Nelson and the rest of the passengers were flying to Dallas for a New Year's Eve concert.

According to data at Box Office Mojo, the highest box office sales draw for a movie on a New Year's day is held by Avatar.

Hawaii was one of the last places on earth to celebrate the new millennium on Jan. 1st, 2000.
What do Paul Revere, J. Edgar Hoover, Lorenzo de Medici, Betsy Ross and Pope Alexander VI have in common?

All of these historical figures came into the world on January 1st. According to tradition, babies born on the first of the year grow up to enjoy the luckiest of lives, bringing joy and good fortune to those around them. I wonder someone born on January 1, 2019 will grow up to greatly influence our world. 

So be honest, do you eat black-eyed peas for New Years Day? If not, do you eat some other food each year? Do you make New Year's resolutions?

Releasing tomorrow! The Runaway Brides Collection. What happens when seven brides get cold feet at the altar?

Amy’s home is at stake if she doesn’t marry her neighbor. Delia’s father wants her to marry into a political family. Georgiana is posing as a wealthy man’s wife in order to hide from her groom. Callie is fleeing one wedding and racing to marry a stranger. Emily flees her wedding with the help of a mysterious coachman. Josey’s best friend leaves a letter proposing marriage unanswered in order to elope. Bernadine becomes the ward and pawn of her evil uncle. Where will each turn when they have only God to trust?

Vickie McDonough is the best-selling author of 50 books and novellas, with over 1.5 million copies sold. Vickie grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie’s books have won numerous awards including the Booksellers Best and the Inspirational Choice awards. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, doing stained glass projects, gardening watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com