For those who don't understand the significance of this....
The Moon's phases are of course easily predicted with a little math. But actually *spotting* the new Moon, as early as possible, is a bit trickier. First of all, although the Moon's phases are basically the same around the world, it rises at different times in different places. So after calculating when the nearside will first become the tiniest bit illuminated, you have to calculate when it will rise after that moment. Once you've worked *that* out, you need to account for the fact that it'll still be awfully close to the Sun, and of course you're unlikely to have a perfectly unobstructed horizon available, and it might be cloudy at your observation site.
It is entirely possible for the new moon to not be visible at all for a day, at least from anywhere that people are watching. Something of a sport has developed among amateur astronomers worldwide to see who can spot the youngest Moon. "Youngest", in this sense, means amount of time since the point where it was completely unilluminated, and even though nobody ever spots that (with the exception of a solar eclipse), it's fairly straightforward to calculate. It's gotten to where if you want to set a record on this, you will probably need to predict the ideal observation point, possibly do a bit of international travel, and bring a telescope or binoculars -- the youngest new moons have been sighted during daylight, and a bit of magnification will help make out that whisper-thin moon.
But modern amateur astronomers actually inherited this passion from older astronomers. In days gone by, many people set all of their activities by the moon and worked off of lunar calendars. Today, lunar calendars only survive in religious contexts, and one of the more notable is the Islamic calendar. The sighting of the new moon carries no real significance to your average American stargazer, apart from bragging rights, but to a Muslim, this *particular* new moon is important, because it will signal the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Muslim clerics around the world will be watching for the new moon. It's not because they don't know it's coming; they can predict it mathematically as easily as you or I. But tradition says that somebody has to actually *see* the new Moon before it counts, as a way of commemorating the month-long fast that the prophet Mohammed underwent, stopping when he likewise observed the new Moon.
I'll post more when I get back; I have a meeting to attend. ;-)