Why did we choose the start of our year to be on the date it is on?

The earth travels in a circular type orbit around the sun. We could choose any spot for January 1 to be on that circle. Or in other words, we could choose anytime to be the start of our calender year. Why did we choose it on the day we did? Is their some alignment with celestial bodies, or in ancient times did a significant event occur on that date, which some ancient people believed warrented the start of the year? Does my question even make since?