New Year's Day

Soup joumou is a savory, orange-tinted soup that typically consists of calabaza squash, beef, noodles, carrots, cabbage, various other vegetables and fresh herbs and spices.

Haiti's Beloved Soup Joumou Serves Up 'Freedom in Every Bowl'

Every year, Haitians around the globe eat the pumpkin dish on January 1 to commemorate the liberation of the world’s first free Black republic

A 1930s couple rings in the new year with party blowers and streamers. New Year's Eve celebrations only began incorporating countdowns decades later, with the first crowd countdown in Times Square taking place in 1979.

Why Do We Count Down to the New Year?

A historian traces the tradition's links to space travel, the Doomsday Clock and Alfred Hitchcock

The science behind bubbles in champagne is an active field of research. Here, a red spotlight highlights bubbles growing at the bottom of a goblet, where they stick thanks to surface tension.

The Science Behind Champagne Bubbles

As you uncork that bottle and raise your glass, take time to toast the physics and chemistry along with the New Year

A picture of Lunar New Year festivities in a previous year.

How to Participate in the Lunar New Year This Year

The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Freer and Sackler Galleries host virtual events

The loudest marching band at the Rose Parade was Southern University and A&M College's "Human Jukebox" from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was their first performance at the parade in 40 years—talk about a booming comeback!

Marching Bands Make Seismic Waves at the Rose Parade

A fiber optic cable system for sensing earthquakes also gives marching bands a new source of bragging rights

The irony of trucking fake snow into a city that typically has to spend millions on snow removal was not lost on locals in Moscow.

Moscow Brought in Fake Snow for New Year's Eve Festivities to Counter an Unseasonably Warm December

A lack of festive atmosphere isn't the only issue; the city's snowless New Year's points to the serious effects of climate change on Russia

'Dry January' Has Benefits All Year Long

Research suggests the alcohol-free challenge reduces consumption for months afterward

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková as seen in October 2011

Fireworks Not Your Thing? Then Look Out For a Comet on New Year’s Eve

With a telescope in hand, you can watch a comet zoom past the Earth tomorrow night

We Will Have to Endure 2016 One Second Longer Than an Average Year

It’s not giving up the ghost quite yet

Every new year is a new opportunity for the "worst year ever."

Why 2016 Is Only the Most Recent Worst Year Ever

This year has been miserable for many, but it has plenty of competition from its predecessors in the 20th century

A woman smashes her laptop at Good Riddance Day in 2015

2016 Got You Down? Trash All Your Woes on Good Riddance Day

Inspired by a Latin American tradition, Good Riddance Day is one way to say goodbye to this year’s bad memories

The American holiday celebrating African traditions is 50 years old this year.

This Year Marks the 50th Kwanzaa

The week-long holiday is a celebration of African-American culture

The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is tested the day before New Year's Eve atop the roof of One Times Square in New York, on Dec. 30, 2015.

Here’s Why New York Celebrates New Year’s Eve by Dropping a Ball

New Year’s Eve wasn’t always a riotous party

The "Dog Star" Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky.

Night Sky Wonders to Ring in the New Year

The star Sirius is high in the sky, and comet Catalina is at its brightest

This Hoppin’ John dish is all wrong

Don’t Make Hoppin’ John for New Year's Without Heirloom Beans

The original dish didn’t use black-eyed peas, plus the rice and bacon you have is probably wrong

Big News Stories of 2014 That Aren't Going Away

We just have so much to look forward to

Binge Drinking Suppresses the Immune System

Binge drinking not only makes people more accident-prone, it impairs their ability to recover from those accidents

This New Year's Eve, Don't Drink and Walk

Staggering home is dangerous, too

Live Happier (And More Energy Efficiently) by Sleeping More And Inviting Your Friends Over

Increasing your well being in the new year can also be good for the planet

The White House Is Going Digital With Its Holiday Decorations

Robot dogs, an interactive holiday card and crowd-sourced light shows are a few of the new additions

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