“In the ancient Old World, the New Year celebration was viewed as the birthday of the world. It was a day of coronation of divine and earthly kings, a day of victory over chaos, a day of renewal of covenant and the reenactment of the king’s enthronement, and a day of temple dedication and record keeping … .
“Imagine the confusion caused when the Lamanites awoke on New Year’s Day to find that King Amalickiah had been murdered on New Year’s Eve” (Smith and Ricks, “New Year’s Celebrations,” 209).