# New Year's resolutions the plans traditionally made by individuals on the first day of the year, New Year's, which is celebrated as a holiday in almost every country. The earliest of the ancient nations celebrated this day. In ancient Rome, the first day of the year was given over to honoring Janus, the god of gates and doors, of beginnings and endings. The month of January was named after this god. Janus had two faces and looked both ahead and backward. On the first day of the year the Roman people looked back to what had happened during the past year and thought of what the coming year might bring. The early English took over many of the Roman New Year customs. Later the English followed the custom of cleaning chimneys on New Year's Day which was supposed to bring good luck to the household the coming year. That tradition has changed through time. Instead of cleaning the chimney, resolutions are made to correct faults and bad habits, resolving to make the new year better than the one just ended.