Ancient History of New Year’s Resolutions

Would threat of divine retribution motivate you to keep your resolutions?

Left: A depiction of the Babylonian god Adad. Right: A depiction of the Roman god Janus, who looks both backward and forward. Wikimedia Commons

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the West but found around the world, in which a person makes a promise on New Year’s Eve to make certain changes or self-improvements in the year ahead. It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions around 4,000 years ago, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since!

It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year's resolutions around 4,000 years ago.