What date is New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar?

New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar is January 1.

January 1 is the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, the civil calendar used by most countries worldwide. New Year's Eve is December 31, the final day before it. The two dates are linked by the midnight transition but are distinct calendar days.

The choice of January 1 has roots in the Roman calendar. In 153 BCE, Roman consuls began taking office on January 1, helping establish it as the start of the civil year. Julius Caesar's calendar reform, introduced in 46 BCE and implemented in 45 BCE, retained January 1 as New Year's Day.

The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct a gradual drift in the date of the spring equinox. Countries adopted it at different times, and some religious or cultural calendars still begin their years on other dates. Thus January 1 is the Gregorian civil New Year, not a universal start date for every calendar system.