#new year history

[foodandfolklore]

Happy New Year! Rambles

Happy Solar New Year, and welcome to 2024! We're a few days in and I hope everyone is having a good year so far. I hosted a small, overnight mingle with some friends so I thought I'd share a recipe I found that absolutely slapped.

It's weird to think about, but New Years is one of those holidays that everyone in just about every culture celebrated in some way, but how and when varied wildly. This is because, until recently, different areas and cultures had different calendars. Ancient Egypt were the first to figure out the year should have 365 days, but they had three seasons, and a kind of limbo month of 5 days in case they need to extend the year (Leap year) The Start of their year was on our July 19th, when Sirius returned and the Nile flooded. This is good for crop growing.

Many people think the Ancient Romans were the ones to make our Modern calendar, mainly because the months are named in honor of Roman Gods. Plus there's the story of Julius Caesar creating an entire month and naming it after himself (July) is so well known. But, another Emperor, Augustus Caesar, also named a month after himself. Though to his credit, he just renamed an already existing month 'Sextillia' (Meaning Sixth). People think it's crazy to just add another month like that, but the last month for the Romans basically lasted for as long as they needed it to.

The new year for the Ancient Romans was on March 1st, where they honored Mars, God of War. Then Julius changed it to January 1st, Honoring Janus the God of Time. Eventually, Rome converts to Christianity, and the new year is now about Fasting and Prayer and fun stuff like that. It remains on Jan 1st and Honored Mary, until a while later it's decided that date is too pagan and they move it to December 25th. Celebrating the New Year with the Birth of Christ makes much more sense. Except, they run into a little problem where either the year runs short, as December doesn't have enough days, or we confusedly end the year AND start it....in December. Plus not many people knew of the change and didn't celebrate the new year. So after a while, they switched it back to January 1st.

Finally, in 1582, the Gregorian calendar was released. This is the Calendar we still use today, and despite your feelings on the religion that made it, it is the most accurate Calendar we humans have ever made. The year officially started January 1st. But a lot of people across Europe didn't adopt this calendar. Most people stuck to when spring time happened, around late March Early April, to celebrate the new year. It wasn't until the mid 1700s when Britain started expanding colonies into the new world that the push for everyone to adopt the Gregorian Calendar was made. This shift is why we have April Fools as people still celebrating the new year in April were called Silly or Foolish.

But people still celebrate OTHER new years. People in Mexico will still celebrate the Aztec New Year on March 12th. In Many Hindu communities, Diwali is considered the New Year. It date changes each year, but tends to happen in October. And then there's the Widely know Lunar New year. Celebrated across many Asian cultures and can be a massive celebration. More so than the Solar New year in some cases. The date also changes, but happens some time between end of January to start of February. Fun fact, if you are checking out your Chinese Zodiac and are born in January or Early February, you should check when the Lunar New year started the year you were born. So if you were born in the year of the Rabbit but your birthday is January 3rd; that means the new year of the Rabbit hasn't started yet and you should reference the Previous year, year of the Tiger, for your Horoscope.

Wow that turned into a weird ramble. Long story short; These crock pot noodles were good!

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

going through my old journals as part of therapy homework and i'm reading a section written in the emotional wreckage of a full-on breakdown when i get hit with this line:

There is never a satisfying answer to ‘Why didn’t they love me?’

like wow babe. good fucking point

[bbyteach]

Uhhh sooooo NYC 80’s punk scene AU where ed used to play in bands when younger but not anymore & runs a popular venue and is totally burned out on the scene. Until a blonde weirdo wearing pastels started coming to shows there and he had to understand what is going on with this guy?? And the guy wants to learn more about this world and Ed confused but ends up having more fun than he has in ages??

[blueiscoool]

Medieval Toy Unearthed in Poland

A 800-year-old horse figurine was found during an excavation conducted as part of the construction of a new fire station in Toruń, a medieval town on the Vistula River in north-central Poland. The small clay horse was glazed and has a hole in its underside. Researchers think a stick may have fit into the hole so that playing children could pretend to make the horse gallop or use it as a puppet.

[irishyuri]

happy lesbian week! ive nothing new to post so heres an assignment i did for college last term lol

[sacramentohistorymuseum]

Happy Islamic New Year! Also known as the Hijri New Year, it is the first day of Muharram, which is the first month in the Islamic calendar. The starting point of Islamic calendar is migration of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. This day, observed at sunset of July 6th this year, signifies a time of renewal and spiritual contemplation.

Did you know Sacramento is home to the second oldest Muslim Mosque in the United States west of the Mississippi River? The Muslim community has grown in the Sacramento area ever since the early 1900s. A large majority of those who came to California in the early 1900s were South Asian immigrants seeking education in the United States or were refugees fleeing colonial oppression.

Construction of the Mosque began in 1941 at 411 V Street and was finished in 1947. This Mosque continues to serve the Islamic community today as part of the Muslim Mosque Association.

For today, Jared letterpress printed a Hijri New Year greeting with black rubber base ink using a 4x6 Golding Official #2 tabletop printing press. The text reads, “Hijri New Year 1st day of Muharram,” and was typeset with 30 point Caslon type font.

[saturngalore]

afrofuturism🪐

☆ one ~ solange hair by darknightt (tsr warning) ☆ two ~ loretta hair by @simtric ☆ three ~ bahati braids by @sheabuttyr ☆ four ~ isonoe hair by octetsica ☆ five ~ binah braids by @sheabuttyr ☆ six ~ cornrows & curls hair by @leeleesims1 ☆ seven ~ indie hair by @sashima ☆ eight ~ loc petals by @shespeakssimlish ☆ nine ~ mnemosyne hair by octetsica ☆

mini dedication essay to black simmers and ts4 creators below! pls read if you have the chance! <3

this edit is a small homage to afrofuturism and the various unique black hairstyles (and especially the black creators of most of these hairs) that i have downloaded and admired over the years! some of these are old and some of these are new.

to me, afrofuturism means constantly honoring/reclaiming/challenging the past while constantly creating/dreaming of a better society/world/future. a society/world/future that embraces and empowers all of our differences, ingenuity, aspirations, and unique lived/cultural experiences. a society/world/future that does not limit us through the various systems of marginalization and oppression (racism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, classism, colorism, etc.) that often affects how we, as black people, live today.

blackness is so diverse and intricate yet it's always been a struggle to find my culture within a game that's known for being so limiting, bland, and extremely eurocentric when it comes to hairstyles, clothing, food traditions/events, etc. black simmers have always had to figure out how to make this game more inclusive and make it resemble either more like how our ancestors lived, how our current lives are, or how we would want our lives (and even our children's lives) to look like in the future no matter how dystopian the real world look and feel now. fortunately, these hairs and their uniqueness bring a huge sense of culture and style to this game. they have always inspired me and made me feel extremely proud to a part of the lovely african diaspora (and the ever-growing black simmer community).

in a way, being a black simmer and cc creator usually means that we are often digitally creating our own worlds as afrofuturists to varying degrees (whether we know it or not) every time we open our game, make our sims, make houses, and/or make black cultural cc. also, now i know that cc making is not easy to do and is extremely time-consuming so this post is also just me giving all black cc creators especially those who create for free their well-deserved flowers! here are some other black cc creators who created cc that have greatly impacted my game since i first started playing sims 4: @/leeleesims1 @/simtric @/hi-land @/yuyulie @/sims4bradshaw @/ebonixsims @/xmiramira @/sheabuttyr @/qwertysims @/oplerims @/sleepingsims @/shespeakssimlish and so many more im forgetting probably (im too shy rn to tag ppl but i greatly appreciate y’all fr i hope y’all telepathically get this message somehow 😭).

last but not least, i am hoping that this inspires somebody to keep creating or start creating regardless of what they think their skill level is! somebody will absolutely fall in love with your work and/or your art/work will 100% change someone's game forever <333

[youngpettyqueen]

grabbing people and going look at me. listen to me. its not "omg the Doctor is finally gay now!!" the Doctor has been queer this entire goddamn time. 9 kissed Jack on the lips in 2005. 10, 11, and 12 openly discussed being attracted to men. 11 ALSO kissed men on the lips. 13 was in love with Yasmin Khan, and openly expressed attraction to women. 14 openly expressed being attracted to a man. these are just off the top of my head I may be missing things

the point is that 15 is not the first Doctor to be openly queer and he is not the first Doctor to become romantically involved with someone of the same sex. stop believing the headlines from Disney that this is the first time the Doctor has been queer onscreen. we are NOT letting them take credit they dont deserve

[chronurgy]

Gortash designs and builds mechanisms so I imagine he has to be able to sketch fairly decently in order to sketch his projects and designs. And I'm imagining a pile of charcoal sketches of Durge, done over their entire acquaintance, starting out with sketches of them in battle and then slowly becoming more detailed and intimate and as they do, the titles changing from things like "The Bhaalspawn" and "Bhaal's Chosen at Their Bloody Work" to "The Chosen in Contemplation" and finally just Durge's name

[beggars-opera]

Boston Globe, December 31st 1923

The really funny thing is there WAS a female crime wave in 1924 and it was so high-profile there's now a famous musical about it

[amnhnyc]

💎 The large stibnite crystals are made up of tiny building blocks called unit cells, in which atoms and sulfur combine in a regular arrangement. Unit cells repeat in a 3D pattern to form a crystal.

🎊 Happy New Year to all—we hope to see you at the Museum in 2024!

[foodandfolklore]

The legend of the gallery hunt

As a Canadian, I like to look for folktales from around the world. But I also like to find stories a little closer to home. This is a Quebec Folktale about Lumberjacks on New Years eve wanting to go visit their girlfriends for the season. So they make a deal with the devil to fly their canoe there and back. It's probably one of the earliest tales that has a "Don't Drink and Drive" message. Which is saying something as this story dates back to the 1800s.

Since this is a Quebec Folktale, it is written in French. As I'm not fluent in French, I used Google Translate to help understand the story. If you are fluent in French, and want to read the original text, feel free to do so here. I also had a friend who lives in Quebec fill in some of the blanks for me. One of the most important ones that we English speakers should be aware of is the style of Curse Words the people of Quebec use. Most curse words in Quebec are apparently tied to the Church. Not because they are a religious Province. Just the opposite. Quebec has a tumultuous relationship with the Catholic church and just religion in general. So, when they swear they're "Taking the Lord's name in vain" Multiplied by Fuck, Shit, Cock. If that makes sense. Though, I still giggle at Sacrament and Tabarnak. But apparently it's worse so.

The legend of the gallery hunt

It was the evening of December 31, just before midnight. The loggers were preparing to celebrate the start of the new year. The site cook had prepared New Year's Eve. The site manager had given a small barrel of rum to his lumberjacks. Outside it was freezing cold. The cook was a bit of a “hottie”; he lay down on the bed. 

The cook was sleeping when, suddenly, Baptiste, the head of the pickers, woke him up and asked him if he wanted to go see Lise, his girlfriend.

Seeing my Lise, said the cook, it's not possible. She lives in Lavaltrie. It's near Montreal. It's 400 km from here. A trip of almost a month on foot in the snow!

Baptiste replied: “No question of going on foot. We will travel by canoe in the air. We will go to the village ball and tomorrow at six o'clock we will be back at the construction site. 

I understand, replied the cook. You suggest I go hunting; to risk my eternal salvation to go kiss my girlfriend in the village...

Yes that's it ! And we need an even number of men; you will be the eighth!

I'm a bit of a drunk, not very religious but selling my soul to the devil... 

Create sissy! There's no danger! With the gallery chase, we do 200 km per hour. It's simply a matter of not pronouncing the name of the good Lord and not hanging a church steeple while traveling. 

Yes, but you have to swear an oath to the devil...

It's a simple formality. If we hold our tongues and steer our canoe well, we will come back here without any problem.

Without thinking too much, the cook headed towards the boat. Baptiste warns his men that at the dance, they should not drink in order to have a clear mind to steer the canoe properly on the return trip. Baptiste, standing behind the boat, said: “Repeat after me: Satan, we promise to deliver our souls to you if, within six hours, we pronounce the name of your master and ours, the good God, and if we let's touch a cross during the journey. On this condition, take us over the mountains and you will bring us back to the construction site. Sheep! Acabras! Acabram! Take us over the mountains! » 

The canoe rose into the air to a height of 500 or 600 feet. He darted through the air like an arrow, fleeing faster than the wind. The men saw the course of the rivers and, flying above the Ottawa River, they soon arrived in Montreal. Then, the villages passed by and they very quickly saw the village of Lavaltrie. It was two o'clock in the morning. 

“Be careful,” Baptiste shouted, “we’re going to land!” » Five minutes later, they inquired about the place where the vigil was being held: at Battissette Augé's house. People were surprised to see them. Baptiste said to them: “Let us dance, we will tell you about our trip tomorrow. » The men danced for two hours. Baptiste, breaking his word, took a few glasses of white whiskey. Very quickly, the time of departure arrived. The men left without attracting attention. Even the cook left without saying goodbye to his girlfriend.

Even though Baptiste was a little drunk, he was the one steering the canoe for the return trip. He took the wrong route and passed very close to the Contrecœur bell tower. Further on, he almost hung the cross on the top of Mont Beloeil. So, to get back on the right track, Baptiste turned the canoe so quickly that it overturned in the snow on Mount Royal. As soon as his feet were on the ground, Baptiste began to worship. The men thought at that moment that if Baptiste was still dying when they got back into the boat, it would be hell for everyone! Then, the men tied up Baptiste and gagged him before leaving towards the construction site.

They were almost there when Baptiste began to want to break away. Very quickly, he managed to remove his gag and “released a coronation” [Info: Swear] which caused the boat to fall. Fortunately, the canoe remained snagged in the branches of a large pine tree. The men fell into the soft snow. The cook lost consciousness and woke up in his bed the next morning. He had a few scratches on his hands. 

The other guys on the site reported that they had found the cook, Baptiste and the six other men simmering their white rum in a snow bank near the site. Nobody denied them. The guys would never have told about their trip: it was a shame to have almost sold your soul to the devil to go kiss your girlfriend!

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

putting my prediction on record now that the coming decade is going to see the rise of viral-marketed fancy at-home water filtration systems, driving and driven by a drastic reduction in the quality of U.S. tap water (given that we are in a 'replacement era' where our current infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifespan--but isn't being replaced). also guessing that by the 2030s access to drinkable tap water will be a mainstream class issue, with low-income & unstably housed people increasingly forced to rely on expensive bottled water when they can't afford the up-front cost of at-home filtration--and with this being portrayed in media as a "moral failing" and short-sighted "choice," rather than a basic failure of our political & economic systems. really hope i'm just being alarmist, but plenty of this already happens in other countries, and the U.S. is in a state of decline, so. here's praying this post ages into irrelevance. timestamped April 2023

[cap10wilson]

made the mistake of watching catws again and now i’m having marvel brainworms again like how did the russos fuck up so bad with steve & bucky don’t piss me off… every captain america movie being about steve losing bucky and doing the absolute most dumbass shit to get him back at any cost and being so goddamn reckless… just to fuckin ditch him in endgame… oh it unbelievably angers me

[blueiscoool]

Archaeologists Find a Beautiful 3,000-Year-Old Octagonal Sword in Germany

A rare Bronze Age sword unearthed from a burial site in Germany is in such good condition that it still glimmers.

According to a statement the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection released on Wednesday, the weapon was discovered in the town of Nördlingen in Bavaria, and may date to the 14th century B.C.

"Last week, archaeologists made a very special find during excavations in Nördlingen: a bronze sword that is over 3,000 years old and is so extraordinarily well preserved that it almost still shines. It is a representative of the bronze full-hilt swords, whose octagonal hilt is made entirely of bronze (octagonal sword type)," a translation of the statement reads.

Its octagonal shape make it a rare find, as only the most skilled blacksmiths were capable of making these types of swords—known as Achtkantschwert in German—that required precise casting and decoration.

"The production of octagonal swords is complex because the handle is cast over the blade (so-called overlay casting). The decoration is made with an inlay and using hallmarks. While there are two real rivets, another pair of rivets are only implied," the statement said.

These rare and specialized swords were only made in two locations in Germany at the time, one in the north, one in the south, although the exact location of this sword's origin could not be confirmed.

This find is especially unusual considering that most burial mounds in the area of Germany where the sword was discovered have been opened and looted in the past.

"Sword finds from this period are rare and come either from burial mounds that were deliberately opened in the 19th century or as single, presumed sacrificial finds," the statement said.

It is unclear if this octagonal sword was ever used in combat, or if it was a ceremonial blade.

However, archaeologists noted that while the blade had no signs of wear in battle, its center of gravity made it suitable for use as a real weapon, and it was capable of being used to slash opponents.

The grave in which the sword was found contained the remains of a man, a woman and a child.

"It is not yet clear whether the persons were related or what the relationship between them was," the statement explained.

Despite these questions, the sword marks an exciting find for the archaeologists and for Germany.

"The sword and the burial still have to be examined further so that our archaeologists can classify this find more precisely. But it can already be said that its condition is exceptional. A find like this is very rare," Mathias Pfeil, head of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, said in the statement.

[markscherz]

In case you needed some nightmare fuel, this is what the oesophagus of a leatherback sea turtle looks like on the inside. 
Those spines keep jellyfish in but let sea water out. Unfortunately, they also keep plastic bags in, making them very vulnerable to plastic impaction!