Why...?

[Rohiniranjan]

According to Wikipedia:

January 1 became the official start of the year as follows:
1362 Grand Duchy of Lithuania
1522 Republic of Venice
1544 Holy Roman Empire (Germany)
1556 Spain, Portugal
1559 Prussia, Sweden
1564 France
1576 Southern Netherlands
1579 Duchy of Lorraine
1583 Dutch Republic (northern)
1600 Scotland
1700 Russia
1721 Tuscany
1752 Great Britain (excluding Scotland) and its colonies

What happened that made the world follow Lithuania's lead...?

Thanks,

Rohiniranjan

[eye_of_tiger]

My feeling is that the order of the countries in which January 1st was first celebrated as New Year's Day has a lot to do with how far a country is from Rome, and specifically how far it it from the power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope, who basically decided these matters for centuries, taking over this task from the Roman emperors who had seriously mismanaged it up until then.

A comedy of errors and nifty mathematical adjustments of dubious effectiveness, which eventually gave rise to the Gregorian solar cycle based calendar which we use now.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hist ... -years-day

According to the 2011 census, the predominant religion in Lithuania is Christianity, with the largest confession being Roman Catholicism. Lithuania was the last pagan country in Europe, with the Roman Catholic Church becoming widely accepted only as late as the 17th century. Way back in 1362 however, the Grand Duchy was definitely anything but Christian or Catholic.

Countries followed Rome, and not Lithuania.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Lithuania

EoT  :smt017

[Rohiniranjan]

My feeling is that the order of the countries in which January 1st was first celebrated as New Year's Day has a lot to do with how far a country is from Rome, and specifically how far it it from the power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope, who basically decided these matters for centuries, taking over this task from the Roman emperors who had seriously mismanaged it up until then.

A comedy of errors and nifty mathematical adjustments of dubious effectiveness, which eventually gave rise to the Gregorian solar cycle based calendar which we use now.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hist ... -years-day

According to the 2011 census, the predominant religion in Lithuania is Christianity, with the largest confession being Roman Catholicism. Lithuania was the last pagan country in Europe, with the Roman Catholic Church becoming widely accepted only as late as the 17th century. Way back in 1362 however, the Grand Duchy was definitely anything but Christian or Catholic.

Countries followed Rome, and not Lithuania.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Lithuania

EoT  :smt017

From what little I read and know, although Lithuania was a powerful force in 1300s, Christianity was just making its forays in there, yet it seemed to have set the pace for the rest of the countries (with stronger presence of Christian faith) as seems to be the case.

Perhaps someone with a firmer grasp on the old history of Lithuania might be able to share why they selected 1st of January (despite being Pagan) almost 200 years before the Roman Empire did.

As far as I know there is nothing astronomical or astrological about 1st of January (a day in the Gregorian calendar) -- perhaps the pagan calendar for 1362 might have something relevant. Pagan calendars tended to be lunar, if I am not mistaken.

The list I provided was from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1

[eye_of_tiger]

This could have been because although Gediminas who was the Grand Duke of Lithuania at the time gained a reputation for being a champion of paganism and successfully diverted attempts to Christianize his country by skilful negotiations with the Pope and other Christian rulers, his attitudes were still strongly influenced by those of the Vatican.

Lithuania followed Rome's authority and principles in 1362, even though it resisted it's only approved religion, until late in the 17th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gediminas

Lithuania did follow Rome.

The Holy Roman Empire in Germany in 1544 was an authority unto itself.

EoT

[Talia]

Crumbs you guys really talk such deep knowledge.

When did time start being recorded then?

[Rohiniranjan]

Crumbs you guys really talk such deep knowledge.

When did time start being recorded then?

Dear Talia,

Not sure if you read my comment to Rishi on numerology section about spirituality of 0:1:3:9  (or 9:0:1:3 etc) and symbolism (anthropocentric), but perhaps the answer to your wonderful timeless question runs a parallel course! Syn-chronistic, some may say...?  

Recording generally follows observation? At least for humans...??

So the answer to your question is embedded in the answer to this question:
When did the 'recorder' (human?) first begin to observe?  :smt004

Love'n'Light

Rohiniranjan