Things to Know About the Ball Drop at Times Square

Started way back on 31^st December, 1904, the New Year Eve Ball Drop has been a tradition since then and it has become one of the most popular events of the time. The owner of The New York Times’, Adolph Ochs wanted to celebrate the inauguration of his newspapers in a grand way and thought about a fireworks show on the roof of his office building on the eve of 1905. At that time it was a tradition to attend the fireworks show at the Trinity Church, but the one at The New York Times’ office was announced to be grander and almost 200,000 people came to watch the show, breaking the traditional celebrations. Much later in the year 1907, Ochs came to know about a ball drop at Western Union Building. In fact, that ball descended 43 m in the last 60 seconds on the New Year’s Eve. This idea finally got to him and he started the famous ball drop on the eve of 1908 and from then on the tradition has continued.

The ball game

When Adolph Ochs first started the ball drop concept, the ball was made of iron and wood and had 100 incandescent light bulbs to make it bright and visible to people from a long distance. Over the years, the design of the ball and the lighting and patterns has changed. If you visit Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the first thing that you will see is the big colorful ball and people eagerly waiting for it to drop. Nowadays, LED lighting is used that is computer operated and you will find crystal panels that are triangle-shaped that are very minutely designed to give a perfect look to the ball. Unlike the ball at Western Union Building, the one at Times square was larger and better looking and that is why more and more people started to come to the event.

Balls later

Changes were made to the ball at Times Square and the original was replaced with a new ball that weighed 180 kg and was made of iron. This ball was also replaced by a third version that weighed lesser (68 kg) and was made from aluminum. Nowadays, the Times Square New Years Eve Ball is kept atop the pole and only comes down on the eve of New Year. Millions of people come to attend this mega event and the tradition will definitely continue for the years to come.