January may be best known for resolutions and snowy weather. Here are some trivia tidbits about the first month of the year:

• January is named for the Roman god Janus, the protector of gates and doorways. Janus was always depicted with two faces and purportedly could see into the past and into the future simultaneously.

• In the northern hemisphere, January tends to be the coldest month of the year. It should come as no surprise then that it is National Soup Month, as soup helps to chase away some of that chill.

• Garnet is the birthstone for January. The name comes from the Latin “garanatus,” meaning “seed-like.”

• January became the first month of the year (replacing March) when Roman king Numa Pompilius revised the Roman republican calendar during his reign from 715-673 BCE.