In the spirit of the new year, this post is dedicated to the famous Times Square ball dropped every New Year's Eve.
This obscure tradition began in the year 1907, when the first 700 pound, iron ball adorned with one hundred light bulbs, designed by Jacob Starr, was lowered down the flagpole of One Times Square. Every year since, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943 due to the wartime "dimout", crowds have formed in the famous square to watch the ball drop and count down the seconds to the new year.
In the year 2000, the traditional style ball was replaced by a new one designed by Waterford Crystal. The ball was six feet in diameter, weighted over 1,070, and was covered in 504 crystal triangles, creating a geodesic sphere. In 2007, 72 of the crystal triangles were replaced with new ones showing the design "Hope for Peace", consisting of three doves as symbols bringing peace into the new year. 168 crystal light bulbs were added to the outside of the ball, 432 light bulbs--in an array of red, green, blue, yellow, and white-- were placed inside the ball with 96 colored strobe lights. About 100 rotating pyramids were faceted to the exterior in order to reflect the light back towards the audience. The lights and mirrors were all computer controlled, and created an amazing, kaleidoscope-like effect. After the 2007-2008 New Year's Eve bash, the Millennium ball was taken down and is now displayed inside One Times Square.
This odd tradition did by no means begin in Times Square. The first "time-ball" was used in 1833 by England's Royal Observatory in Greenwich. At one o'clock every afternoon, the the time-ball would drop in order for captains or nearby ships to set their chronometers--a navigation instrument.
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