Happy New Year to all the folks who celebrate it on the Equinox!

All Colbert snarkiness aside, President Obama has given a Norouz address, and here is the wikipedia article on Nowruz.

New Year used to be celebrated at the spring equinox in Europe but it was changed over to January 1 by the Romans and finalized in various other cultures of Europe by the 1700s. Given how many of our holidays have their roots in the agricultural calendar of neolithic Eurasia and pre-Roman Europe, I would prefer that our New Year was celebrated with the advent of spring rather than an arbitrary date picked by Rome. Besides, spring is much more naturally festive than January in the northern hemisphere.

Happy New Year!