The tradition of drinking Champagne on New Year's is believed to come from ancient Rome

In ancient Rome, toast was added to drinks

Toasted bread crumbs absorbed the acidity of bitter wine and, in some cases, added flavor. Although the term "toasting" was not yet in use, the practice was common. Some say the Roman Senate decreed in the first century CE that all citizens must drink to the honor of Emperor Augustus before every meal, though scholars debate the validity of that claim. Eventually, the literal toast became associated with the tributes.

January is named after Janus, the Roman god of transitions

In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which established Jan. 1 as the beginning of the new year. The month was named after Janus, the Roman god of transitions, who had two faces—one looking back at the past, the other forward to the future. While the Babylonians also made promises as part of their celebration of the new year, the Roman tradition became more focused on looking backwards to plan for the coming year.

The American colonies recognized New Year’s Eve in March until 1752

England followed the Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar, which had an inaccurate method of calculating leap years. Because of that, New Year’s Day eventually slipped into the spring and was linked with the Christian festival of the Annunciation, which was on March 25. That date carried over to the American colonies, which didn’t change the first day of the new year until 1752, after England adopted the newer Gregorian calendar.

Many New Year's Eve traditions came from German immigrants

While it’s hard to trace the origins of many New Year’s traditions, many of the norms for American New Year’s Eve celebrations come from German immigrants, who significantly influenced American culture in the 1800s. Below is an excerpt from an 1863 New York Times article describing a German New Year’s celebration.

Some people smash Champagne bottles on ships for good luck

Long before Champagne existed, people performed good-luck rituals before setting sail. But since animal sacrifice is generally frowned upon these days, a new tradition developed before a ship’s maiden voyage: smashing a bottle of Champagne against the hull.

A Spanish New Year's Eve tradition is eating 12 grapes at midnight

When midnight hits, participants in Spain, as well as Mexico and some Latin American countries, are encouraged to eat a grape for each of the clock’s strikes. (We’re assuming they’ve got some nice grandfather clocks!) The tradition is intended to bring good luck in the new year. The idea is believed to have originated in the 1890s, but took off when Spanish grape farmers had a surplus harvest.

A history of Rome and wine

Wine and winemaking were integral parts of everyday Roman life. Wine was used medicinally and for religious rites, as well as for pleasure. It also contributed to the expansion of the Roman empire as wine and grapes were traded throughout the Mediterranean. Roman winemaking practices spread as the empire grew. Without Rome, wine may never have grown into what it became, and vice versa.

Why only a single region can call it Champagne

Champagne isn't just sparkling wine—it's a product of strict tradition and geography. By law, only bottles made in France's Champagne region using the "méthode champenoise" can bear the name. From fermentation to riddling and disgorgement, each bottle undergoes years of meticulous crafting before it's ready to be popped.

Champagne has a rich history in hip-hop

The drink is both aspirational and a bragging right. Famous artists name-check brands like Cristal, and up-and-comers long for the day when sparkling wine will flow like water. The trend traces back to the early 1990s and Branson B., “hip-hop’s unofficial sommelier.” The Harlem-based artist would bring bottles of his favorite bubbly to parties, celebrations, and, crucially, recording studios, where friends like the Notorious B.I.G. were laying down some of rap’s foundational tracks.

Anglo-Saxons toasted the new year

The lord of a manor toasted his subjects at the start of a new year with the Old English phrase “waes hael,” which roughly translates to “be well.” “Wassailing” involved traveling from house to house, singing songs, and continuing to drink, a practice that eventually influenced caroling.

New Year's Eve celebrations date back to ancient Babylon

Rather than celebrating in winter, the Babylonians honored the vernal equinox, a day in late March with equal amounts of darkness and light that signaled the start of a new year. They celebrated with Akitu, an 11-day festival.

Saturnalia was a Roman festival that helped shape Christmas

Ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia in mid-December, honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture, with week-long street festivals. These celebrations featured gift exchanges, lavish meals, and gambling, which was prohibited in public at the time.

In 1910, riots swept Champagne over unfairness in the winemaking industry

The French are well known for protesting, and their winegrowers are no exception. After years of disastrous harvests caused by bad weather, disease, and deceptive practices by large Champagne houses, smaller vintners fought back.

Americans celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War with nationwide toasts

In 1783, citizens celebrated the signing of the Preliminary Articles of Peace with nationwide parties. Across the new country, many made 13 toasts to the 13 states. They also drank to George Washington. One poet in Boston wrote, “Health to his honor I’d freely drink, Had I a glass of wine; And whosoever with me shall think, May mix their toast with mine.”

Britain’s bottle innovation saved Champagne

Champagne wouldn’t be where it is today without a surprising partner: 17th-century British glassmakers. An energy crisis caused by deforestation—not enough trees to burn—led to the search for an alternative fuel source. Enter coal. The plentiful resource burned much hotter than wood, creating stronger glass that could stand up to the pressure of the carbon monoxide produced by the wine’s second fermentation and solving one of the fledgling industry’s most vexing problems.

A New York fireworks ban necessitated a new way to ring in the New Year

In 1906, the city banned fireworks displays, forcing the Times Square celebration to find a new centerpiece. The Times commissioned Jacob Starr, a Ukrainian immigrant who worked for Strauss Signs, to develop an ornament. He returned with the now-iconic New Year’s ball.

Sparkling wine was a political tool in the Soviet Union

To show the world that the Soviet Union had recovered after the devastating famine of the early 1930s, leader Josef Stalin turned to a surprising source: sparkling wine. Stalin believed that if everyday citizens could access luxury goods like caviar and Champagne, it would show socialism had succeeded. The result was Sovetskoye Shampanskoye, a Soviet-made sparkler that achieved his goal of availability and affordability if not quality.

An early literary mention of a New Year's kiss dates to the 14th century

The medieval poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” includes a description of a New Year’s party where women are planning on giving “New Year’s gifts” to men. Scholars say it’s implied that the “gifts” are kisses.

The history of the Caesar salad

Despite what you might guess from its name, the Caesar salad wasn't invented in ancient Rome. The popular dish was created in the 1920s by two Italian brothers who'd emigrated to the United States and opened a popular restaurant in Tijuana called Caesar's Palace. This history of the popular entrée digs into that history and unpacks how it became a restaurant staple.

Firework-related celebrations include an annual summer celebration in El Salvador, where residents throw kerosene-soaked balls to commemorate a 1658 volcanic eruption

Another memorable tradition takes place in Vrontados, Greece, with people in two rival churches firing bottle rockets at each other's bell towers in an event known as the Rocket War. Yet another tradition occurs in Tainan City, Taiwan, fifteen days into the Chinese lunar calendar, with celebrants donning protective gear and attempting to get hit by fireworks—a tradition dating back to the late 1800s when residents asked the god of war for help with a raging cholera epidemic, with a similar display.

The ancient Greeks and Romans viewed comets and meteors as divine omens

Both considered the appearance of a comet or its fragments as a precursor to significant events, such as the birth of a notable figure or the death of a ruler. One observed in 44 BCE was believed to be a sign of the deification of Julius Caesar after his assassination.

Guy Lombardo first played ‘Auld Lang Syne’ on New Year’s Eve because of a cigar sponsorship

The bandleader was booked to play a New Year’s Eve concert live on CBS radio program called the Robert Burns Panatela Show, named after its sponsor, a cigar brand. Lombardo, noting the cigar's name, decided “Auld Lang Syne,” penned by the poet Robert Burns, would be both a fitting tribute and, thematically, a great way to enter a new year.

The Gold Rush helped turn Napa into wine country

In the 1830s, the arrival of settlers carrying European rootstock grapevines to Napa kick-started the valley's wine industry. Ten years later, the Gold Rush brought scores of wine-loving Europeans and their descendants to the area. Recognizing an opportunity, Charles Krug opened the valley's first commercial winery in 1861, which produces bottles to this day.

Red and green became Christmas colors thanks to holly—and Coca-Cola

Holly's green leaves and bright red berries linked the colors to winter festivals for centuries, but Coca-Cola's 1931 Santa—painted by Haddon Sundblom in Coke-red robes—helped cement red and green as the modern Christmas palette.

Charlemagne sparked a medieval revival of learning and Roman culture

During the Carolingian Renaissance, Charlemagne—the king of the Franks and later the emperor of much of Western Europe—and his successors promoted education, the arts, and scholarship. Monasteries preserved hundreds of Roman texts, while architecture and artistic styles drew inspiration from classical Rome.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'