The new year begins at midnight on January 1 — and this countdown ticks to your local midnight, wherever you are. Fireworks in Sydney, the ball drop in Times Square, grapes in Madrid: one moment, celebrated around the planet for 24 straight hours.
January is named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings who looks both backward and forward. Julius Caesar fixed January 1 as the year's start in 45 BC, and the Gregorian calendar carried it worldwide.
The Times Square ball has dropped since 1907 (originally made of iron and wood with 100 light bulbs). Spaniards eat twelve grapes at the twelve strokes of midnight; Danes smash plates on friends' doorsteps; Japan rings temple bells 108 times.