In the Gregorian calendar, New Year’s Eve, also known as Old Year’s Day or Saint Sylvester’s Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to as “New Year’s Eve”.
In many countries, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.
The Line Islands (part of Kiribati) and Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean, are the first places to welcome the New Year, while American Samoa, Baker Island and Howland Island (part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands) are among the last.
These vintage photos show what New Year’s Eve parties looked like in the 1950s and 1960s.
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| (L-R) Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi, his fiancee Caprice Chantal, British actor Anthony Steel and his wife, Swedish actress Anita Ekberg, during a diner in Saint Vincent Casino, Piedmont, on December 31, 1958. (AFP, AFP/Getty Images) |
