1. From the 12th century until Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, the official new year was not on January 1 but on March 25. 

2. Officially in England, 1751 was the shortest year ever, lasting only from March 25 to December 31. 

3. Scotland had changed its New Year’s Day to January 1 in 1600. 

4. January is named for the two-headed god Janus who could look backward and forward, to the old year and the new, at the same time. 

5. If you don’t want to be bothered starting a new calendar or diary today, you can dig out one for 2007 and re-use it. Days of the week are the same. 

6. In Ethiopia, New Year’s Day is celebrated on September 11 or 12. 

7. In 1362, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus were first to start the official year on January 1. 

8. J Edgar Hoover (first director of the FBI) and Kim Philby (British spy) were both born on January 1, in 1899 and 1912 respectively. 

9. January 1 is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church as the World Day of Peace. 

10. An old superstition thought it unlucky to sweep your floor out of the door on January 1. For good luck, you should sweep from door to hearth.