the plans traditionally made by individuals on the first
day of the year, New Year's, which is celebrated as a holiday in almost every country. The earliest of the ancient nations celebrated this
day. In ancient
Rome, the first
day of the year was
given over to honoring Janus, the
god of
gates and doors, of beginnings and endings. The month of January was named after this
god. Janus had two faces and looked both ahead and backward. On the first
day of the year the
Roman people looked back to what had happened during the
past year and
thought of what the coming year might bring. The early
English took over many of the
Roman New Year customs. Later the
English followed the custom of cleaning chimneys on New Year's
Day which was supposed to bring good
luck to the household the coming year. That tradition has changed through
time. Instead of cleaning the chimney, resolutions are made to correct faults and bad habits, resolving to make the new year
better than the one just ended.