But how did this New Year's Eve celebration start, and why do we commemorate the occasion by watching a ball descend down a pole? Nautical inspiration. The latter had successfully drawn crowds to the newspaper's new skyscraper home in Times Square through pyrotechnics and fireworks to celebrate the forthcoming year, but city officials banned explosives from being used after just a few years. In , Ochs commissioned Starr, who worked for sign-making firm Strauss Signs later known as Artkraft Strauss, which Starr served as president , to create a new visual display.
Crowds gather in Times Square to on December 31, The intersection has hosted New Year's Eve celebrations since The new concept was based on time balls, nautical devices that had gained popularity in the 19th century. As time-telling became more precise, ship navigators needed a standardized way to set their chronometers. Each day, harbors and observatories would raise and lower a metal ball at the same time to allow sailors to synchronize their instruments.
Both Ochs and the New York Times' chief electrician, Walter Palmer, have been credited with the idea, allegedly inspired by the downtown Western Union Building, which dropped a time ball each day at noon.
Around public time-balls are believed to have been installed around the world after the success at Greenwich, though few survive and still work. Share on facebook. Share on twitter. In , it was replaced again with an even lighter pound ball made from aluminum. The aluminum ball was used until , when it was given a makeover with red light bulbs and a green stem to represent the apple of the "I Love New York" campaign.
This was used through when the red bulbs were swapped for white. In , rhinestones and computer-controlled strobe lights were added to the ball.
The ball was created by Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting and was decorated with real crystals and computerized lights. Seven years later in , the companies redesigned the ball again in celebration of the th year of the Times Square tradition. It may be a product, but it's still a premium streamer at an unbeatable price.
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