what is the origin of the ball drop in times square for new years eve?”
The descent of a time ball each New Year’s Eve is a ritual derived from a common visual synchronization procedure once used primarily for navigation and astronomy. This practice evolved long before the age of electronic communications, but after mechanical timekeeping had reached a high degree of accuracy. In 1829 the first time ball was installed in England for visually synchronizing the chronometers used in navigation. * 1907 – The New Year’s Eve Ball first descended from a flagpole at One Times Square, constructed with iron and wood materials with 100 25-watt bulbs weighing 700 pounds (318 kg) and measuring 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter. * 1920 – The Ball was replaced with an iron material Ball and weighing less than the original, only 400 pounds (181 kg). * 1942 -1943 – Due to World War II, the descending of the Ball was suspended. * 1955 – The Ball gets replaced with a lighter Ball weighing 150 pounds (68 kg). * 1981 – 1988 – Due to I Love New York campaign, there are red light bulbs
