when did times square start dropping the ball
Times Square Ball The event was first organized by Adolph Ochs, owner of The New York Times newspaper, as a successor to a series of New Year's Eve fireworks displays he held at the building to promote its status as the new headquarters of the Times, while the ball itself was designed by Artkraft Strauss. First held on December 31, 1907, to welcome 1908, the ball drop has been held annually since, except in 1942 and 1943 in observance of wartime blackouts.
New Year's Eve The most prominent celebration in the country is the "ball drop" held in New York City's Times Square. Inspired by the time balls that were formerly used as a time signal, at 11:59 p.m. ET, an 11,875-pound (5,386 kg), 12-foot-diameter (3.7 m) ball covered in panels made of Waterford crystal, is lowered down a 70 feet (21 m) high pole on the roof of One Times Square, reaching the roof of the building 60 seconds later at midnight. The event has been held since 1907, and has seen an average attendance of 1,000,000 yearly.[25] The popularity of the spectacle has inspired similar events outside of New York City, where objects that represent a region's culture, geography, or history are raised or lowered in a similar fashion—such as Atlanta's Peach Drop, representing Georgia's identity as the "Peach State", and Brasstown, North Carolina's lowering of a live opossum in a glass enclosure (an event which has historically attracted criticism from animal rights groups).[26][27]