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Show i New Year Observed March 25 in England Before Calendar Change Prior to England's adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752, New Year's Day was observed on March 25, and of course, New Year's eve was March 24. The English always had a big time on New Year's Eve, and after the Puritan government abolished Christmas and absolutely absolute-ly forbade any solemnization or celebration thereof, the people vented all their holiday spirit on the New Year. Even after the restoration of the Stuarts brought about a revival re-vival of Christmas customs and traditions, Christmas never reat-tained'its reat-tained'its former eminence; but New Year went right along, surviving sur-viving Puritanism and later, in 1752, the switch in calendars and the date of its observance. |