NewYear2008_Celebrations

Thousands welcome the New Year in Britain


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Millions of revellers saw in the New Year with spectacular firework displays and
huge street parties in major cities across Britain and around the world.
 

In London, about 700,000 people lined the Thames for a celebration that included the most extravagant fireworks display

ever held in the capital — at a cost of £1.3?million.

Some waited more than six hours to ensure they secured prime firework viewing places along the Thames and

as midnight approached, the rain fell with increasing persistence, but it failed to dampen spirits.

As Big Ben chimed the first moments of 2008, the fireworks lit the sky.

The £1.3 million pyrotechnic display was the centrepiece of Britain's colourful New Year's celebrations.

The show lasted 11 minutes and, as it ended, the crowds cheered and sang Auld Lang Syne.

Albert Caminha, 27, from Portugal, said: "I thought the fireworks were incredible — every possible colour was used —

and I loved the way the lights reflected in the water from the river."

Dawn Reed, 49, from Doncaster, said she had visited London especially for the New Year celebrations.

"It was absolutely fantastic," she said.

"I'd love to come back next year and see it all again, but I would like to get a little bit closer next time."

In Glasgow, 15,000 people packed into George Square while about 100,000 people took to the streets of

 Edinburgh for the Hogmanay festival.

In Wales, around 30,000 people travelled to Cardiff Castle for a party that included acrobats,

circus performers and fireworks.

Leeds was the first British city to herald the New Year holding its firework display at 5.30pm to

attract more families and children after a carnival-style parade, an aerial laser light display and

an open-air performance of Cinderella and the Magic Lamp.

In Edinburgh thousands of revellers packed the streets to take part in one of the world's biggest new year parties.

Around 100,000 people flocked to the city's Hogmanay street party, set against the dramatic backdrop of

Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street Gardens.

Mild conditions dispelled fears there would be a repeat of last year's disappointment,

when the event was cancelled hours before midnight because of severe weather.

Many funseekers began celebrating long before the bells, and flocked to the city centre to find

good vantage points for the music stages and fireworks display.

Once the party got under way at 10pm, revellers could choose between three live music stages

offering everything from dance and pop to Asian fusion and bagpipe music.

Across the road, 9,000 music-lovers were packing into the sell-out Concert In The Gardens event

to rock to the sounds of top British bands.

NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLDNEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLDNEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
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NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLDNEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLDNEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLDNEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLDNEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD 

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Fireworks at the London Eye mark the start of 2008


Fireworks and parties see in New YearTue Jan 1, 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of revellers saw in the New Year at a huge fireworks display by the River Thames, with millions more raising a glass at parties across the country.

An estimated 700,000 people packed the capital's streets to watch the display at the London Eye observation wheel after Big Ben's chimes heralded the start of 2008.

"With the equivalent of one in ten Londoners enjoying the fireworks in central London alone, it shows a city seeing in the New Year in style," said London Major Ken Livingstone.

Police made 120 arrests but said the crowds were good-humoured with no major issues reported.

"The nature of New Year's Eve in central London has changed," said Superintendent Andy Tarrant.

"From what used to be a relatively low-key spontaneous night is now a world-class event that attracts thousands and thousands of people."

Scotland Yard said 3,600 officers were on duty to help cope with New Year's Eve crowds that have doubled over the last three years in London.

In Scotland, up to 100,000 people packed the streets of Edinburgh for the city's Hogmanay street party.

In Cardiff, circus performers, acrobats and fireworks entertained the crowds at an event in the grounds of the Welsh capital's castle.

(Reporting by Tim Castle, editing by Kate Kelland)

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Thousands join new year celebration

Thousands of New Year's Eve revellers took to the streets of London to welcome in 2008.

Partygoers lined prime spots in Trafalgar Square and Embankment to hear Big Ben chime midnight and watch an 11-minute firework display over the River Thames.

An estimated 700,000 people arrived in the capital for celebrations and more than 3,600 Metropolitan Police officers were on duty, some in plain clothes.

Officers made 17 arrests - two for assault, nine for being drunk and disorderly, five for public order offences and one for possession of class A drugs.

Roads in central London started to close to traffic from about 6pm to deal with the influx of visitors and journeys on public transport were free from 11.45pm.

The dazzling fireworks display was a big hit with those who braved the drizzle to watch.

Albert Caminha, 27, from Portugal, said: "I thought the fireworks were incredible - every possible colour was used - and I loved the way the lights reflected in the water from the river."

Dawn Reed, 49, from Doncaster, south Yorkshire, said she had visited London especially for the new year celebrations.

"It was absolutely fantastic," she said.

As the display ended, the crowds began to cheer and sing Auld Lang Syne.

Full coverage »

Fireworks and parties see in New Year Tue Jan 1, 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of revellers saw in the New Year at a huge fireworks display by the River Thames, with millions more raising a glass at parties across the country.

An estimated 700,000 people packed the capital's streets to watch the display at the London Eye observation wheel after Big Ben's chimes heralded the start of 2008.

"With the equivalent of one in ten Londoners enjoying the fireworks in central London alone, it shows a city seeing in the New Year in style," said London Major Ken Livingstone.

Police made 120 arrests but said the crowds were good-humoured with no major issues reported.

"The nature of New Year's Eve in central London has changed," said Superintendent Andy Tarrant.

"From what used to be a relatively low-key spontaneous night is now a world-class event that attracts thousands and thousands of people."

Scotland Yard said 3,600 officers were on duty to help cope with New Year's Eve crowds that have doubled over the last three years in London.

In Scotland, up to 100,000 people packed the streets of Edinburgh for the city's Hogmanay street party.

In Cardiff, circus performers, acrobats and fireworks entertained the crowds at an event in the grounds of the Welsh capital's castle.

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Happy New Year

There are 364.1 days until 2009!

It's Another New Year...



...but for what reason?

"Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1.

ANCIENT NEW YEARS
The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).

The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

THE CHURCH'S VIEW OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS
Although in the first centuries AD the Romans continued celebrating the new year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. But as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different. New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision by some denominations.

During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years.

NEW YEAR TRADITIONS
Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.

The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California.

Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival.

The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.

Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus.

The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.

FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR
Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.

Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.

What Millennium is it, Anyway?

On December 31, 1999, people all over the world partied down like never before in celebration of the beginning of a new millennium. There were fireworks galore, music, dancing, drinking, and all manner of revelry. It didn't matter that people were celebrating the new millennium in error. There's just something about all those 0's in the date that made it special.

New Year's Day, 2001 was rung in with zeal, but nothing like the year previous--never mind that 2001 is the real beginning of the third millennium. The reason 2001 starts a millennium is because there was no year 0. The calendar jumps from the year 1 BC to the year 1 AD because there is no Roman numeral for zero. When you start counting from 1 and end at 1000, the next series of a thousand begins at 1001 and goes through 2000. So the year 2000 marks the end of the second millennium on the Gregorian calendar.

This technicality meant little to those who were awed at seeing the year roll over from 1999 to 2000. It's like watching the odometer on your car hit that 100,000-mile mark. So, in some respects, it is altogether fitting that we celebrated the year 2000 with more vigor than we would celebrate a typical new year.

A millennium, by itself, is simply a series of 1000 years in a row. For example, the period from May 25, 1953 through May 24, 2953 is a millennium. But, since most of the Western World uses the Gregorian calendar to keep track of years, the important question is when to mark the beginning of the third millennium BC.

With all the hype surrounding the start of the 3rd millennium, one wonders how our forebears celebrated the millennial change in the year 1000 AD. Actually, there was little to celebrate in Europe a thousand years ago. It was the middle of the Dark Ages and most people weren't in a party mood. Besides, they didn't use Arabic numerals as we do. So, to them, they were merely observing the year "M." It just wasn't the same.

In calculating the true end of the millennium, we must consider why we start numerating our years from 1 AD. Christ was not actually born in the year 1 AD, or 1 BC. (AD stands for the Latin Anno Domini, meaning "The year of our Lord.") Most likely, he was born in the spring or fall of 4 BC or 5 BC. One of the early bishops goofed when he calculated the birth date of Christ.

Also, it doesn't make much sense to start counting from Christ's birth anyway, from a purely Biblical standpoint. After all, the story of His birth was not important enough to include in half the Gospels! A more likely choice would be Christ's Resurrection. So, if He were crucified at age 33, then the REAL millennial year ought to be 2028 or 2029.

But, the early Church decided that Christ's birth was more significant to our calendar, so that's what we use. Therefore, if Jesus was actually born in 4 BC, the 2nd millennium ended on December 31, 1996 and the true 3rd millennium began in 1997. So maybe those millennial partygoers in 1999 weren't early after all. Maybe they were three years too late!



New Year's Rose Parade kicking off with sunshine, peaceful crowd
By SOLVEJ SCHOU Associated Press Writer


PASADENA, Calif.—A pickup truck that morphed into a space craft, a giant blossoming rose and a Chinese dragon undulating in the breeze were among the floats that got cheers from thousands of spectators as the Rose Parade rolled Tuesday.

Those who spent New Year's Eve camped curbside were joined at dawn by giddy visitors arriving by car, bus and train. The city estimates more than a million people visit Pasadena during the parade and Rose Bowl game festivities.

Gail Paulson was drawn to the parade route although she is blind.

"There's a lot a blind person can appreciate at this parade. There's electricity in the air, the smell of the flowers, the clomping of the horses," Paulson, 64, of Oxnard, said as her guide dog Elton led her to a seat.

The 119th edition of the Tournament of Roses began at 8 a.m. as sunshine bathed the 5 1/2-mile parade route.

There were 21 marching bands and 18 equestrian units.This year's theme was "Passport to the World's Celebrations.

The crowd was well-behaved. By noon, 23 people had been arrested including one protester, Pasadena Police Department Lt. Keith Jones said. Jones said the protester was "arrested for holding up a sign that blocked other patrons view of the parade."

Military fighter jets streaked over cheering spectators to kick off the procession. After the fighter jets buzzed overhead, celebrity chef and grand marshal Emeril Lagasse shouted his trademark phrase, "Let's kick it up a notch Bam!"

"It's been an absolutely incredible week," Lagasse said.

The irrigation firm Rain Bird International won the prestigious Sweepstakes Trophy for most beautiful entry for it's "Preservation Celebration" float paying tribute to the intimate relationship of water and life. The float featured eight waterfalls, Bengal tigers and animal expert Jack Hanna.

The City of Torrance's "Festival of Flowers" won the Lathrop K. Leishman Trophy for most beautiful noncommercial entry and the State of New Mexico's "Passport to Our World and Beyond" won Grand Marshal's Trophy for excellence in creative concept and design.

One of the biggest crowd pleasers was American Honda's "Passport to the Future," which won the Crown City Innovation Trophy. It featured a Honda Ridgeline pickup truck that morphed in a cloud of smoke into a spaceship.

"It was awesome—what it looked like after it transformed. It looked like it was a rocketship...," said Noah Herndon, 10, from Glendale.

Two groups were protesting at the parade. Dozens of anti-war protesters led by "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan staked out spots in across from television cameras, hoisting signs reading "Impeachment is Patriotic." The protesters were booed by parade watchers sitting in the grandstand.

"This is not the occasion for this," said Mary Feichtel, 63, of Florida.

After the parade finished, a group of more than 100 anti-war protesters marched down the route. Sheehan spoke to a gathering of protesters at Pasadena City Hall.

"We are all here for accountability," Sheehan said. "You didn't ruin anybody's parade, they got to see the truth."

Members of the Chinese Falun Gong spiritual movement protested a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Demonstrators wanted people to turn their backs on the float as it rolled along the route, though few appeared to join in the protest.

"I don't know enough about it to turn my back," said Marcia Thoop, 55, of Arcadia as she watched the float, adorned with Olympic mascots and flanked by plate-twirling acrobats, drive by.

John Li, a member of the California Institute of Technology's chapter of Falun Gong, said he and other Chinese activists intended to sue the city of Pasadena because he claimed police rejected the group's plans to stage an organized protest along the parade route.

Many in the crowd were from Illinois to watch the afternoon Rose Bowl football game between the No. 6 University of Southern California Trojans and the No. 13 Illinois Fighting Illini.

Illinois native Jenny Sweer, 43, was in a beach chair cuddled up in a sleeping bag to ward off the mid-40-degree chill in the hours before the parade began.

"I'm cold and tired. I didn't get much sleep. It's a good year to be here because we're from Illinois," Sweer said.

Jason Johnson, 41, of Ventura whooped and hollered when Bayer's "Salute to the Rose Parade" float came by with a 20-foot-tall sculpted rose. The float, which won the Queen's Trophy, shot out red and blue streamers and fireworks burst out from the rose.

"I enjoyed that. It's an interactive float," said Johnson. "Last year though, I think there was more buzz at the parade. George Lucas was here with Star Wars storm troopers."

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You've been warned: New laws in effect
RULES TARGET DRIVERS WHO USE CELL PHONES, SMOKE WITH KIDS IN CAR
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau