Another day, another year

Here we go again. As if we need an excuse to party and pop bubbly.

1. First, let’s be clear. What we’re celebrating is the Gregorian new year, set as January 1 back in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.
2. New Year’s Eve has always been December 31 going back as far as calendars have existed. But the Romans celebrated the New Year on March 1. Because January and February were late additions, the Roman year oringinally ran between March and December.
3. Here in the U.S., New Year’s Eve is the most drunken night of the year. The average BAC (blood alcohol content) is reported at .095 percent.
4. About 48,700 people are injured in car crashes.
5. It’s not the most dangerous holiday for driving. Memorial Day, with 448 fatal accidents, is the worst, followed by Labor Day, the Fourth of July, Columbus Day, Father’s Day, and Cinco de Mayo. Still, with an estimated 408 fatalities, the New Year holiday can be bloody. Christmas, by the way, is the safest.
6. Americans hold to their resolutions for 36 days, on average, but 16 percent admit they don’t stick to any of their goals. Some of us don’t make ’em at all.
7. “Old Long Syne” is an old Scottish tune that got new words from Robert Burns in 1788. It means “times long past.”
8. Canadian bandleader Guy Lombardo is responsible for making it a New Year’s staple. He performed the piece at midnight at a New Year’s Eve party in New York City in 1929 and eventually broadcast it on radio and TV stations around North America.
9. Even though it’s become the go-to song every New Year’s Eve, very few people actually know its words. Do you?
10. January was not named for the two-faced Roman god Janus but rather originates in the Latin word ianua, meaning door, reflecting the opening of a door we’re about to enter.