Interesting things about New Year's Day around the world

- The traditional New Year's song in England is called "Auld Lang Syne", which means "Time is Gone". The poet Robert Burns wrote it in 1788. Although not many people understand all the words of the song, the general message is to remind people to love their family members, whether they are alive or dead, and to keep their image in their hearts.

- Lobster and chicken are believed to be able to get back what you lost last year because lobsters can swim backwards while chickens often dig backwards when looking for food.

- The ancient Persians had the custom of giving eggs as New Year gifts to symbolize fertility and growth.

- According to British and German folklore, the first person to pass you in the new year will greatly affect your fortunes in the following year. This is quite familiar to East Asian culture. Couples often kiss at midnight, otherwise, there is a "curse" that one of them will have a new lover.

- The tradition of welcoming the new year by lowering the crystal ball and shooting confetti in Times Square (USA) at the exact moment of New Year's Eve was first held in 1907 after a ban on fireworks was issued. The original ball weighed 700 pounds (more than 300 kg), had 100 light bulbs and looked very different from what we see today. Now it is covered with 2,688 crystals, lit by 32,000 LED bulbs, weighs 11,875 pounds (more than 5 tons) and is 12 feet (about 3.5m) in diameter.

- Lots of people pop champagne on New Year's Eve. It is estimated that Americans will drink 360 million glasses of wine at this time.

- In Philadelphia (USA), up to 10,000 people participate in the custom of walking through the city hall and wearing unique costumes. This parade dates back to the 17th century.

- Not only in Vietnam, when going out on New Year's Eve in other countries, you should also be careful with your belongings. According to statistics from the US National Crime Insurance Bureau, more cars are stolen on New Year's Day than any other holiday.