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Fun Facts for New Year's: Wear Red Underwear, Lock Your Car and Eat Black-Eyed Peas

Check out these interesting fun facts and trivia about New Year's Eve.

 

If you're celebrating New Year's Eve this year and find a lull in the conversation, impress your family and friends with this New Year's trivia.

  • According to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more vehicles are stolen on New Year's Day than on any other holiday throughout the year.
  • Why should you ring in the New Year with family and friends? It is thought that the first visitors you see after ringing in the New Year would bring you good or bad luck, depending on who you keep as friends and enemies. Keep your friends close and your enemies far, far away!
  • The Time Square New Year's Eve Ball came about as a result of a ban on fireworks. The first ball, in 1907, was an illuminated 700-pound iron and wood ball adorned with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs. Today, the round ball designed by Waterford Crystal, weighs 11,875-pounds, is 12 feet in diameter and is bedazzled with 2,668 Waterford crystals.
  • Due to wartime restrictions , the New Year's Eve ball was not lowered in 1942 and 1943.
  • Throughout the year, visitors to Times Square in New York City write their New Year's wishes on pieces of official Times Square New Year's Eve confetti. At the end of the year, the wishes are collected and added to the one ton of confetti that showers the crowd gathered in Times Square in celebration of the New Year.
  • The top three destinations in the United States to ring in the New Year are Las Vegas, Disney World and New York City.
  • Food plays a big role in New Year's traditions. Eating black-eyed peas, ham or cabbage are thought to bring prosperity. However, stay away from bad luck foods like lobsters, because they move backwards, and chicken, because they scratch in reverse. It is believed that eating these on New Year's day might cause a reversal of fortune.
  • In Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico families stuff a life-size male doll called Mr. Old Year with memories of the outgoing year and dress him in old clothes from each family member. At midnight he is set on fire - thus burning away the bad memories of the year. 
  • According to this survey , 40 to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions each year. The top New Year's resolutions include weight loss, exercise, quitting smoking and better money management. By the second week of January, 25 percent of people have abandoned their resolutions.
  • In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year's Day as a symbol of good luck for the upcoming year.
Related Topics: New Year's Eve, Traditions, and fun facts
How do you plan on celebrating New Year's Eve? Tell us in the comments.

sss

8:02 am on Friday, December 31, 2010

It's Colombia, not Columbia. Learn your geography.

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Grate

9:15 am on Friday, December 31, 2010

Great article, Loved it! Thank you.
to sss, get a life.. so someone made a mistake, make a new year resolution to NOT be judgemental... learn to enjoy the effort the person made and dont be critical.

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Jane Smith

9:24 am on Friday, December 31, 2010

Hey SSS... go kick rocks! Most of us probably noticed the mistake but didn't feel the need to make a brash comment about it. You must not have a life and probably go out looking for things to complain about. Well lets hope you make the right decision as to what your New Year's resolution should be.

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Suzy Ravasio Chudzik

9:45 am on Friday, December 31, 2010

Thank you, sss, for catching that mistake! We will work on correcting it. Spelling error aside, I hope you enjoyed the article.

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Melissa Sersland

1:41 pm on Friday, December 31, 2010

The mistake has been fixed. We regret the error. Thanks for catching it!

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veege

7:22 pm on Friday, December 31, 2010

Learning geography has noting to do with spelling correctly. I'm just saying. If you are going to leave a comment like that at least make sure it makes sense.

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sally martin

5:09 pm on Monday, April 11, 2011

I watch the firework from my house or from closer and i love the fireworks EVERONE SHOULD COME ON NEW YEARS EVE.

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sally martin

5:11 pm on Monday, April 11, 2011

NOLLLL.................WE WILL MAKE SURE WE WILL MAKE IT MAKE SENCE

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yesenia santos

11:27 pm on Saturday, December 24, 2011

Yesenia santos i love takeing a bath with 3 difrent salt to take off the bad energie of the hole year that will make u more energitic n powerful for the following year.

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