New Year's Eve is one of the world's most celebrated holidays, whether you're a kid excited to stay up all night or an adult just trying to make it to midnight. But, what are the traditions of New Year's Eve and why do we celebrate it the way we do?

The biggest New Year’s Eve tradition is watching the ball drop in Times Square.

“Every year, about two million people gather in New York City’s Times Square to watch the famous ball drop,” said an unknown author from americahousekyiv.org.

Another big tradition is kissing at midnight.

“Many of our traditions, including kissing, originally come from the English tradition of "saining," or offering blessing or protection, during the period of Yuletide,” said Tia Ghose from livescience.com.

Many households also break open the alcohol on New Year’s Eve, whether it be just a bottle of champagne or passing out drunk. New Year’s Eve is a drinker’s night.

“Popping champagne corks at the stroke of midnight is a mainstay on New Year’s Eve, whether at swanky parties or home celebrations. In general, overindulgence and excess are hallmarks of New Year’s celebrations around the world,” said Ghose.

Many people also make New Year’s resolutions. Whether they keep them or not is up to them, but they get an A for trying.

“Messing up and promising to do better next time may be a uniquely human instinct that has no season, but making New Year’s resolutions dates back at least to the time of the ancient Mesopotamians,” said Ghose.

No matter what you’ve been through in 2020, 2021 is going to be much better. Make 2021 your year.