January Overview – Ringing in a new year means new beginnings and endings. But the world didn’t always see January that way.

Even when January replaced March as the first month of the year after Roman king Numa Pompilius revised the calendar around 700 B.C., many religions held to celebrating the new year either on March 25th or December 25th according to their church calendars. Even the Julian calendar didn’t motivate a clear beginning and end to the year. It wasn’t until the Gregorian calendar, developed by Pope Gregory who introduced it in 1582, that most of the world began to see January 1 as the beginning of the New Year.

Janus is the Roman god of beginnings and endings. He’s a protector of gates, doorways and transitions. January takes its name from this tow headed god, and it makes us wonder why it took so long to celebrate the new year in January, but it did.

January Culture Overview

Fortunately for anyone born in January, their birthstone is the Garnet which comes in a wide variety of stunning colors.

Capricorns and Aquarius are born in January. You share your birthday month with Elvis Presley, Virginia Woolf, JRR Tolkien, Bessie Coleman, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr., Jeannette Piccard, J.D. Salinger, Zora Hurston, A.A. Milne, Carrie Chapman Catt, Edgar Allan Poe, Alma Ziegler, and Dian Fossey.

January is often a month of new beginnings and endings. Some of us embark on new health club memberships in an attempt to end old habits. Our new year’s resolutions help kick off healthy habits placing us squarely on a path of health and renewal. While some of us succeed, many admit we will need to keep trying. New beginnings don’t always have to do with our physical self, though. Sometimes we challenge ourselves to new adventures or lifestyles.

Standardly, many insurance policies start new in January. It’s also a time to hang up a fresh new calendar.

January Monthly Observances
National CBD Month *
National Bath Safety Month
National Black Diamond Month
National Blood Donor Month
National Braille Literacy Month
National Hobby Month
National Hot Tea Month
National Mentoring Month
National Menudo Month
National Oatmeal Month
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
National Slow Cooking Month
National Soup Month
National Sunday Supper Month