This article concerns the famous New Year’s Eve event, Times Square Ball Drop. It takes place annually in Times Square in Manhattan. Read more about the origins of the celebration and its further work on manhattanski.
Origins
The Times Square Ball is a ball of time located in Times Square on the One Times Square skyscraper in Manhattan. The Times Square Ball is an important part of the New Year’s Eve festivity in Times Square. The celebration itself is called the Times Square Ball Drop. On New Year’s Eve at 23:59, the ball is lowered down a special flagpole, and at midnight this process is completed, thus announcing the beginning of the new year. The event is accompanied by a variety of entertainment.
In fact, the first New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square took place on December 31, 1904, when the owner of The New York Times, Adolph Ochs, resolved to celebrate the opening of the newspaper’s new headquarters at One Times Square with New Year’s Eve fireworks. The event was attended by about 200,000 guests. So, a few years later, Adolph decided to scale up the event for even more exposure. The newspaper’s chief electrician, Walter F. Palmer, suggested using a time ball, an idea he spied on the Western Union telegraph building. Then Ochs turned to the design company Artkraft Strauss with a request to produce it. The first balloon was made of wood and iron, had a diameter of 5 feet (1.5 m), and weighed about 700 pounds (320 kg). It was first hoisted on the 70-foot flagpole of One Times Square on December 31, 1907. Ten seconds before midnight, the balloon would begin to descend, and at 00:00 it would hit the roof, setting off a chain that would ignite 5-foot signs on both sides of the building and fireworks.
Continuing the tradition
In 1913, the newspaper moved to 229 West 43rd Street, but did not stop holding such events. The ball’s design was changed after the 1920s. The size of the ball remained identical, but the material was swapped for iron, so it weighed much less, 400 pounds (180 kg). In 1942-1943 and 1943-1944, there were no celebrations due to the outbreak of World War II. Instead of the traditional celebration at midnight, a minute of silence was observed.
After the 1950s, the sphere was modified again, replacing iron with aluminum and increasing the diameter by 1 foot. Now it weighed even less, 150 pounds (68 kg). The countdown tradition was first started in 1979. In 1981-1982, the sphere was made to look like an apple and additional lighting was added. The third ball already had 12,000 rhinestones and the latest computerized lighting system, which included 180 halogen lamps and 144 strobe lights. The fall time was increased to 61 seconds.
Before the new millennium, it was decided to update the design again. This time, the fourth ball was manufactured by Waterford Crystal. As a result, the sphere had a diameter of 6 feet (1.8 m) and weighed 1,070 pounds (490 kg). On the outside, there were 504 crystal panels, more than 600 halogen lamps, 96 strobe lights and rotating pyramidal mirrors. The panels also featured drawings on various themes, such as Hope for Abundance, Hope for Healing, Hope for Courage, Hope for Unity, Hope for Wisdom, Hope for Brotherhood, etc.
In honor of the year 2000, Times Square hosted a variety of festive events throughout the day, including parades, concerts and more. The number of guests was up to two million people.
In 2007-2008, in honor of the 100th anniversary, the fifth updated ball was released. The sphere was 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter and weighed 1,212 pounds (550 kg). It was equipped with 9,576 Philips LED lamps and various computerized lighting schemes. In 2009, the size was updated. It was 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter and weighed 11,875 pounds (5,386 kg). Also, 2,688 panels and 32,256 LED lamps were added. In addition, weather resistance was increased, as the ball was planned to be kept at the top of Times Square for a whole year. In subsequent years, only the theme of the panel patterns changed. In 2020, mass celebrations were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ceremonial descent of the sphere was broadcast on television. In 2021-2022, the mass celebrations resumed, but with precautionary measures. In 2022-2023, the event was held traditionally.