By the time morning alarm clocks were going off on the East Coast Wednesday, millions of people across the globe were already ringing in 2026 with fireworks and other celebrations in in Sydney, Tokyo and Bangkok, among other places.

The Pacific island nation of Kiribati, home to 136,500 people, was the first country to ring in 2026, at roughly 5 a.m. EST in the United States.

By 8 a.m. EST, New Zealand, Fiji and most of Australia had welcomed the New Year, followed by Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and much of Indonesia.

By 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday the clock will have already struck midnight in Nepal, India, Greece and Moscow, Russia, and by 8 p.m. most of Europe will be done ringing in the new year.

Regions of the U.S. will celebrate from midnight to 4 a.m. EST on Thursday and the final inhabited places to ring in 2026 will be Honolulu (5 a.m. EST) and the U.S. territory of American Samoa (6 a.m. EST).

In the U.S., the first major New Year’s Eve holiday television special will kick of at 7 p.m. EST with a special YouTube live event by former CNN anchor Don Lemon broadcast from New Orleans. ABC's “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve," CBS' "New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash" and "New Year’s Eve Live" on CNN will all start at 8 p.m. EST.

The New Year is celebrated differently all over the world, though special foods, countdowns to midnight and fireworks displays as the clocks strike 12 a.m. are common themes. In the southern U.S., some eat collard greens and black-eyed peas for luck and prosperity. In Spain and many Latin American countries, eating 12 grapes brings luck; 12 spoonfuls of lentils are eaten in Italy; "oliebollen", or rounds of fried dough, are on plates in the Netherlands; and some Estonians will eat 12 times on New Year's Eve. Greeks smash pomegranates against doorways (the more scattering seeds, the better); in Denmark revelers break plates on the doors of friends and neighbors (and leap from chairs or sofas at midnight); and wearing polka dots on Dec. 31 brings good luck in the Philippines. The Irish bang bread against their walls and the Japanese rise early to watch the first sunrise of the year, called the Hatsuhinode.

Just as cultures engage in certain activities to bring prosperity, others avoid moves that are said to bring bad luck. Lobster is considered an unlucky food for New Year's Day because they walk backwards, symbolizing set back and lack of growth in the new year. In China, white foods like rice and tofu are avoided because white represents death and mourning. Chinese superstition also says cleaning or doing laundry on Jan. 1 can wash away any good fortune for the coming year or will "wash away a loved one." Similarly, taking out the trash can remove wealth and good fortune from the home. Some Eastern European lore says sleeping through midnight will bring a sluggish year, and other cultures must open doors and windows at midnight to let out the old year and bring in the new.