Troll got me (was Re: Is there no end)

Doubtlessly true; I've heard some people say the same thing about Christmas. Actually, there was no "act", that was hyperbole. The earliest reference to a Januray 1 New Year I can find is the Roman Civil Year. Later, the Catholic Church, which liked to line up the calendar with its Holy Events, wanted sto see Christmas become the start of the new year. But some later winter/early spring feasts were a popular time for the people, so through much of the dark ages, April 1 was the start of the New year. When the establishment of the Gregorian Calnedar began to take hold (which moved New Year's Day officially to Jan 1), people foolish enought to still celebrate it on April 1 became known as "April's Fools". The Gregorian Calendar was adopted tt different times in different countries; I think Russia held out until the early 20th Centurt. See http://www.genfair.com/dates.htm for more info. Regards, -dq