January 1st was celebrated as the New Year for the first time in 153 BC, when the King Numa Pontilius added January and February to the calendar. Previously, with only 10 months in the calendar, the New Year was recognized as March 1st. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar officially replaced the lunar calendar with a new solar-based calendar and officially moved the start of the year to January 1st to coincide with the terms of newly elected Roman consuls. In various times throughout the Middle Ages, the New Year was celebrated on Dec. 25th to coincide with the birth of Jesus, March 25th when Christians celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation, and Easter. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar reform restored the 1st of January as the beginning of the year for Catholics, although Protestant countries took longer to adopt the reform. The British Empire and its colonies continued to celebrate March 1st as the New Year until 1752.