Hey, Smarty Pants, it's almost New Year's Eve.
So what are you up to?
Are you eating grapes?
Wearing red pajamas?
Did you sprinkle salt on your doorstep?
Huh?
Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy.
But is it any crazier than this?
As it turns out, different cultures around the world celebrate New Year's Eve with different traditions.
Hola!
In Spain, we eat 12 grapes, one for each strike of the midnight clock.
Hopefully, it will bring us prosperity and good fortune in the new year.
In Brazil, citizens head to the beach setting candles and flowers afloat, a gift to an ocean deity known as Yemoja.
They wish for this mother of all deities and giver of life to bestow her blessings upon them in the year to come.
Ah, in Italy, we wear red undies for luck and success next year.
Feliz Ano Nuovo!
Citizens of Chile gather in cemeteries.
This way, they can include their ancestors in the New Year's Eve festivities.
And the Greeks promote growth and renewal by hanging onions on their doors.
Oh, I'm not sad.
It's the onions.
Happy New Year.
In Turkey, they sprinkle salt on their doorsteps at midnight to promote peace and prosperity.
While in Denmark, people smash plates against their neighbor's doors.
Whoa.
As a way to leave aggression, frustration, and other angry feelings behind.
Some say the bigger the pile of broken dishes, the more luck will come their way.
But please do not try this at home.
Whoa, put down the cereal bowl.
So, what about you, smarty pants?
What's your favorite New Year's Eve tradition?
Shout them out.
I heard watching fireworks.
Cool.
Watching the ball drop in New York's Times Square.
Making resolutions.
Staying up late and making noise with noisemakers.
This New Year's Eve, let's resolve to take a big whiff of science and history on... Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science?
Or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smarted.
Hey, smarty pants.
Are you making any New Year's resolutions this year?
Let's hear them.
Okay, get better grades.
Practice piano more.
Stop fighting with siblings.
Good stuff.
Me, personally, I resolve to eat less pizza and more broccoli.
But whatever you decide, making a New Year's resolution is a great way to motivate yourself towards a helpful goal, but keeping your resolution can be hard.
Facts.
90% of people break their New Year's resolution at some point during the year.
And more people break their resolution on February 1st than any other day.
Ay, Dios mio!
But wait, there's hope for your New Year's resolutions.
The first step is to make your resolution smart.
Hey, are you saying getting better at soccer isn't a smart resolution?
No, no, no.
I didn't mean your resolution wasn't smart.
I meant smart as in an acronym S-M-A-R-T.
It goes like this.
S for specific.
M for measurable.
A, attainable.
R, relevant.
And T, time-bound.
Oh okay, does that work well?
For example, you want to improve your soccer playing right?
See, instead of resolving to just get better at soccer which is very broad, you could say i resolve to practice my soccer shooting every wednesday for a half an hour until the season starts.
Ah, that's very specific.
Yes, it is.
And specific is the S in smart.
Next, you can measure your progress.
Is your soccer shot getting harder and more accurate?
It's attainable, meaning you can fit a half hour of practice into your schedule.
It's relevant to improving your overall soccer playing.
And you have an end time set for soccer season.
Great.
Best of all, you can adjust as needed.
If you miss a Wednesday, that's okay.
Just make it up or do it the following week.
You don't have to be perfect.
The important thing is putting a plan in place.
So why do people wait until New Year's to make resolutions?
Good question.
The tradition of making New Year's resolutions dates way back to 153 B.C.
The month of January was named for the Roman god Janus, a god with two faces one looking forward towards the future and one looking backwards towards the past.
I sure hope Janus will forgive me for all the not-so-good things I did last year.
Like when I stole Gaiasa's toga, or when I put vinegar in the grape juice, or when I cheated at chariot racing.
Perhaps if I promise to be better and offer some gifts, Janice will bless me with luck next year.
Since Janice represented resolving past wrongs and setting intentions for the future, the tradition of the New Year's resolution was born.
Of course, while most countries go by the solar calendar, beginning January 1st and ending December 31st, there are many cultures that celebrate other New Year's dates.
Can you think of any, Smarty Pants?
Did you say Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah means Head of the Year in Hebrew, and it is known as the Jewish New Year.
It's based on a historical lunisolar calendar utilizing both sun and moon cycles.
This New Year tradition lasts 10 days and usually falls sometime in September.
There's also the Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar and always begins on a new moon, which is when the moon appears to be dark, usually at the end of January or the beginning of February.
The observation of this tradition lasts 15 days, until the next full moon, when the moon is brightest, with celebratory highlights including eating sweet dumplings, firework displays, dragon dances and a lantern festival.
Each new year is represented by a different animal in the Chinese zodiac.
2022 will be the year of the tiger.
Other Asian countries also celebrate the Lunar New Year, like the Festival of Tet in Vietnam, Solol in Korea and Saigon Saar in Mongolia.
In fact, you could travel the world and celebrate New Year's all year long.
At the end of February, early March, you could celebrate the Tibetan New Year, Losar.
During March, you could celebrate Nowruz, the beginning of the Iranian-Persian calendar.
You could celebrate in Nepal in April, Senegal in June and India in October, where many observe the Hindu New Year Diwali, also called the Festival of Lights.
Wow.
Why so many different cultural calendars?
You have to remember all those calendars were created throughout history before people from different regions, countries or continents could easily communicate.
You mean the Dark Ages?
Yes.
Before the internet?
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of New Year's festivities dating back to around 2000 BC.
In ancient Babylonia, citizens celebrated on the first new moon following the vernal equinox, a day towards the end of March, with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness.
I guess we got about as much light as dark yesterday.
I can't see the moon now.
Time to party?
You know it.
The religious festival called Utiku celebrated the mythical victory of the sky, god Marduk, over the evil sea, goddess Tiamat.
Many New Year's celebrations began with different groups basing their celebration around whatever deities or gods, or political or cultural traditions they had.
In the first few decades of the Roman Empire, the start of the year was largely at the whim of the emperor.
Happy New Year!
But Caesar, how do you know it's New Year's?
I just decided.
Just now?
I better order the noisemakers.
In theory, the Roman calendar was 304 days divided into 10 months.
But hey, I'm not really keeping track.
I'm Caesar!
One year we had 355 days.
Once it was 485 days.
Phew, that was a long one.
What if you adopt the Egyptian solar calendar?
Great for agriculture.
My astronomers are maintaining accurate dates.
365 days every year works like a charm.
I love it, Cleopatra.
I'll call it the Julian calendar, after me, Julius Caesar.
Or you could call it the Cleopatran calendar, after me, seeing as I suggested it.
That makes sense.
But my ego is too big.
Sorry.
Thus in 46 BC, the Julian calendar was adopted, and each year was a standard 365 days and 12 months.
Happy New There's been many changes throughout the 4,000 years of celebrating New Year's.
But how did America get its traditions?
Like watching a giant ball drop?
The answer is right after this quick break.
Now back to Who Smarted?
The first New Year's Eve party ever hosted in Times Square, New York City, ended in a fireworks show.
However, two years later, fireworks were banned for safety reasons.
Fireworks are too dangerous.
Let's drop a 700-pound iron and wood ball down a pole instead.
Hey, yo, won't that be dangerous too?
Nah, don't worry.
We'll deck it out with 125-watt light bulbs and lower it slowly.
In the last moments of 1907, the first ball dropped in Times Square.
We didn't invent the idea of dropping a ball, see?
We just made it fancy.
It's true.
The first time ball was installed in Greenwich England, a town known for its maritime history and the spot by which we all set our clocks.
Greenwich Mean Time.
The time ball was installed atop England's Royal Observatory and would drop at 1 pm every afternoon, allowing ship captains to accurately set their navigational chronometers or fancy watches.
About 150 time balls were installed around the world.
Though as technology improved, they fell out of use.
But a few survived, see?
Like the one at the U.S.
Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., and ours in Times Square.
The Times Square Ball has undergone several technological updates over the decades, but it has dropped every year, with the exception of 1942 and 1943, when wartime lighting restrictions kept New York in the dark for New Year's.
Still, crowds gathered in Times Square and celebrated with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of large chimes located in trucks parked at the base of the ball towers.
You know, ring out the old, ring in the new.
In fact, ringing church bells are often part of the New Year's celebration, along with counting down the last 10 seconds before midnight and making lots of noise.
And then there's the official New Year's Eve song.
Have you heard this one before?
Do you know what this song is called?
Is it Auld Lang Syne, Auld Sang Line, or Auld Song Sang?
Of course, some of you may know it as the Old Acquaintance Song, but it's actually called Auld Lang Syne.
The melody comes from an old Scottish folk song and the lyrics were written in the 18th century by famed poet Robert Burns.
Auld Lang Syne means time's long past.
And while the lyrics seem nonsensical, it's played on New Year's Eve all around the world, from the USA to Russia, to China.
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot in days of auld lang syne?
Happy New Year, everyone.
A triple shout out to Super Smarty fans Sophia, Juliet, and August in Oak Forest, Illinois.
Thanks so much for listening to Who Smarted?
And I'm so happy to teach you something new each and every day.
Hope you had a Super Smarty New Year's and keep on smarting for the rest of the year.
This episode, New Year's Eve, was written by Libby Luchador-Maisward and voiced by Sophie Plitt, Brandon Bayless, Jenna Hoban, Kim Davis, Adam Tex-Davis, Max Kamaski and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Who Smarted? is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Who Smarted? was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
Who Smarted?
