New Year Ball Drop 1907

One thing that will never change is the ticking of time and the arrival of a new year at midnight on december 31st tim tompkins president of the times square alliance.

New year ball drop 1907. Credit times talk thomas p. The drop was replaced with a moment of silence in 1942 and 1943. Et and resting at midnight to signal the start of the new year.

The tradition of dropping the time ball on new years eve in new york began back in 1907 when the very first new year s eve ball was lowered down a flagpole that was situated on top of the building that housed the new york times newspaper. Weighing a whopping 700 pounds the first ball was eventually swapped out for something lighter in 1920. In the latest covid 19 induced blow to big apple traditions officials.

Until 1907 no ball had been used to ring in the new year. Commonly referred to as the ball drop this 12 ft diameter glowing geodesic sphere descends from a flagpole at 11 59pm and takes 60 seconds. For the first time in 114 years there will be no crowd in times square to cheer the famed new year s eve ball drop.

Fortunately for ochs people loved the new year s eve ball. Since 1907 the times square ball has been an annual spectacle that signals in the new year. Crowds instead held a moment of silence to.

The ball has dropped every year since then with the exception of 1942 and 1943. The ball itself has been redesigned over the years to reflect the latest in lighting technology. In those world war ii years new yorkers substituted a citywide dimout for the traditional ceremony.

This happened twice during world war ii. The times square ball drop was first held on december 31 1907 and has been held every single year since with the exception of 1942 and 1943 due to wartime blackouts. The great shout that went up drowned out the whistles for a minute.