The history of the New Year's Eve ball drop

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For millions of people, the twelvemonth 2026 volition statesman erstwhile a crystal-covered ball, 12.5 feet successful diameter, makes its descent successful New York City's Times Square.

New York Times proprietor Adolph Ochs organized the archetypal New York City shot drop, which occurred connected December 31, 1907.

The archetypal shot was made by Jacob Starr, a Ukrainian migrant metalworker.

The lawsuit has taken spot each twelvemonth since, but successful 1942 and 1943, erstwhile revelers welcomed the New Year with a infinitesimal of silence.

New York City Prepares For New Year's Eve 2012

During the COVID pandemic successful 2020, the New Year's shot inactive dropped, but successful a nearly-empty Times Square.

The marque caller shot – the ninth shot to beryllium utilized since 1907 – is the biggest ever, weighing successful astatine 12,350 pounds.

Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, the institution that is redeveloping One Times Square into a year-round destination, gave "Sunday Morning" a close-up look astatine the ball, covered successful implicit 5,000 handcrafted circular Waterford Crystal discs. "They're successful 3 antithetic sizes, 3 antithetic puck sizes, and circular versus triangular, which was the aged geometric dome pattern," Phillips said.

It's a self-contained airy amusement with galore peculiar effects.

I asked, "Why bash you deliberation the shot driblet means truthful overmuch to truthful galore people?"

"It's thing that symbolizes releasing what was, and looking guardant astatine what's to come," Phillips replied.

And determination is much to come: After it completes its New Year's Eve descent welcoming 2026, the shot volition driblet AGAIN, connected the eve of July 4, to people the 250th day of the nation's birth.

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Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: George Pozderec.