WARSAW — Today we start a new month and a new year.

The January birthstone is garnet. The official flowers of January are the Carnation and the Snowdrop. Zodiac signs are Capricorn (Dec. 22 through Jan. 19) and Aquarius (Jan. 20 through Feb. 18).

HOLIDAYS:

• Jan. 1 — New Year’s Day
• Jan. 15 — Martin Luther King Day

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS:

For 2024, according to the Forbes Health/OnePoll survey, these are the most popular goals:

• Improved fitness (48%)
• Improved finances (38%)
• Improved mental health (36%)
• Lose weight (34%)
• Improved diet (32%)

Less popular resolutions include traveling more (6%), meditating regularly (5%), drinking less alcohol (3%) and performing better at work (3%).

NEW YEAR’S TRIVIA:

Civilizations around the world have been celebrating the start of each new year for at least four millennia. Today, most New Year’s festivities begin on Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue into the early hours of Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day). Common traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays.

The earliest recorded festivities in honor of a new year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—marked the start of a new year. They celebrated the occasion with a religious festival called Akitu, which involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days.

In the United States, the most iconic New Year’s tradition is the dropping of a giant ball in New York City’s Times Square at the stroke of midnight. Millions of people around the world watch the event, which has taken place almost every year since 1907. Over time, the ball itself has ballooned from a 700-pound iron-and-wood orb to a brightly patterned sphere 12 feet in diameter and weighing in at nearly 12,000 pounds.

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY:

• Jan. 17, 1966 — A Hydrogen bomb accident occurred over Palomares, Spain, as an American B-52 jet collided with its refueling plane. Eight crewmen were killed and the bomber then released its H-bomb into the Atlantic.
• Jan.  29, 1919 — The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Prohibition Amendment) was ratified. For nearly 14 years, until Dec. 5, 1933, the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages were illegal in the United States. The Amendment had the unexpected result of causing enormous growth of organized crime which provided bootleg liquor to thirsty Americans.
• Jan. 7, 1714 — A patent was issued for the first typewriter designed by British inventor Henry Mill “for the impressing or transcribing of letters singly or progressively one after another, as in writing.”

THIS MONTH IN SPORTS:

• Jan. 7, 2007 — Coach Phil Jackson gets his 900th NBA victory as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Dallas 101-98. Jackson is the fastest to reach 900, doing so in 1,264 games.
• Jan. 8, 1972 — The NCAA announces freshmen will be eligible to play on varsity football and basketball teams starting in the fall.
• Jan. 7, 1927 — Harlem Globetrotters play their first game in Hinckley, Ill.

EVENTS:

• Jan. 1 — Second Annual Polar Ride, noon, AMVETS Post 2919, 234 S. State Street, South Whitley.
• Jan. 4 — The Great All Day Toy Swap, 10 a.m., North Manchester Public Library.