New Year's Eve is the time for champagne toasts, resolutions, and celebrations with family and friends.
And one of the most epic places to usher in the New Year is in New York City's Times Square.
The six-hour-long bash — which has live music performances, celebrity guests, and free schwag — culminates with the famous ball drop at midnight.
And while the event happens overnight, the planning certainly doesn't.
The New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square is co-produced annually between the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, the firm that represents One Times Square. We spoke to Jeff Straus, President of Countdown Entertainment, and Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, to find out exactly how much planning goes into this spectacular annual event. We learned some surprising facts on the side.
The first New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square New Year's Eve took place in 1904.
In 1904, the city decided to throw a New Year's Eve party at One Times Square to commemorate the opening of both the New York Times office building and the city’s first subway line.
Prior to 1904, the New Year's Eve celebration was held at Trinity Church, where revelers would throw bricks in the air to celebrate the New Year.
Source: Times Square Alliance
The first ball dropped on New Year's Eve in Times Square in 1907.
In 1907, the first New Year's Eve ball was dropped from the flagpole at One Times Square.
The iron-and-wood ball was five feet in diameter, weighed 700 pounds, and was adorned with one hundred 25-watt bulbs — measly compared with today's ball.
Source: Times Square Alliance
The ball today is very different than the one used in 1907.
Today, the ball measures 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds. It's covered with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles of different sizes and lit with 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LED light bulbs.
Source: Times Square Alliance
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