元旦名字的由来
众所周知，我们现在所说的元旦，是公历元月一日。然而提起元旦节的来历，那就有些源远流长了。
中国的元旦，据说起于三皇五帝之一的颛顼，距今已有5000多年的历史。 “元旦”一词最早出现于《晋书》：“颛帝以孟夏正月为元，其实正朔元旦之春。 ”
南北朝时，南朝文史学家萧子云的《介雅》诗中有“四季新元旦，万寿初春朝”的记载。宋代吴自牧《梦粱录》中说：“正月朔日，谓之元旦，俗呼为新年。一岁节序，此为之首。 ”
汉代崔瑗《三子钗铭》中叫“元正”;晋代庾阐《扬都赋》中称作“元辰”;北齐时的一篇《元会大享歌皇夏辞》中呼为“元春”;唐德宗李适《元日退朝观军仗归营》诗中谓之“元朔”。
中国元旦历来指的是夏历(农历、阴历)正月初一。正月初一从哪日算起，在汉武帝以前也是很不统一的。因此，历代的元旦月、日也并不一致。夏朝的夏历以孟喜月(元月)为正月，商朝的殷历以腊月(十二月)为正月，周朝的周历以冬月(十一月)为正月。秦始皇统一中国后，又以阳春月(十月)为正月，即十月初一为元旦。
从汉武帝起，才规定孟喜月(元月)为正月，把孟喜月的第一天(夏历的正月初一)称为元旦，一直沿用到清朝末年。
公元1911年，孙中山领导的辛亥革命，推翻了满清的统治，建立了中华民国。各省都督代表在南京开会，决定使用公历，把农历的正月初一叫做“春节”，把公历的1月1日叫做“元旦”，不过当时并没有正式公布和命名。
为了“行夏正，所以顺农时，从西历，所以便统计”，民国元年决定使用公历(实际使用是1912年)，并规定阳历1月1日为“新年”，但并不叫“元旦”。
1949年9月27日，第一届中国人民政治协商会议，在决定建立中华人民共和国的同时，也决定采用世界通用的公元纪年法，即我们所说的阳历。元旦，指公元纪年的岁首第一天。
为区别农历和阳历两个新年，又鉴于农历二十四节气中的 “立春”恰在农历新年的前后，因此便把农历正月初一改称为“春节”，阳历1月1日定为新年的开始――“元旦”，并列入法定假日，成为全国人民的节日。
元旦英语诗歌朗诵
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
By Debra Coe
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
With thoughts of St. Nicholas and what he'd bring there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
Without a moment of bowing their heads.
The scriptures were thrown on the shelves without care.
Little hope of remembering the precious words there.
And I with the tinsel and Ma with the lights
Had prepared for Christmas with no thoughts of Christ.
We had snowmen and elves and of course Santa Claus.
We thought we had decorated without any flaws.
For weeks we'd prepared with lots of traditions,
Cards of course and so much work in the kitchen.
We'd been to parties galore all dressed up in frills
And spent hours at stores to get the best deals.
The lights on the house were all flashing with fun
Lots of presents under the tree; we thought we were done.
We thought not of the needy, nor help to a stranger,
We thought not of the poor, and not of a manger.
No angels were singing in our house that night
We hadn't invited them so none were in sight.
The real spirit of Christmas was absent as well.
For only Christ's spirit will make our hearts swell.
And I wondered that Christmas how it could be
That the Christmas spirit wasn't stronger in me
Why Christmas didn't seem as it was in the past
Why Christmas just came and went by very fast.
When out of my wondering mind did appear.
Some scriptures I'd learned as a child so dear.
Of a loving kind Father who gave His own Son
God saw all our needs and chose Christ as the one.
Christ has the power to serve us so well
Healing the things that can lead to spiritual jail
I could change if I wanted with eyes that could see
"Come Follow Me," was His only plea.
I decided to change and begged forgiveness please
And asked how to serve Him while down on my knees
Serve others and do it as if unto Him
Was the answer I heard in the sound of a hymn
I rushed from my bed and I got scriptures for all.
So we could start Christmas just right after all.
So Christmas day we planed for the months yet to come
Of people we'd serve and we talked of the fun
Now Angels are singing in our home today
We finally invited them to come our way.
And Christmas is lasting the whole long year through,
With scriptures, prayer and devotion His spirit grew.