The first Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop took place in 1907.
The tradition began on December 31, 1907, when a large illuminated ball was lowered from a flagpole atop One Times Square. Newspaper publisher Adolph Ochs organized the event to draw attention to the New York Times building and its new headquarters in the square, which had recently been renamed from Longacre Square.
The original ball was made of iron and wood, decorated with electric lights, and measured about 5 feet (1.5 meters) across. The ball drop was paused during World War II in 1942 and 1943 because New York City's wartime blackout rules prohibited the usual outdoor lights. People still gathered in Times Square and observed a minute of silence instead.
Modern balls use computer-controlled lighting and crystal panels, but the countdown remains tied to the same site. The event is often mistakenly described as beginning in 1904, the year the New York Times held a fireworks celebration there; the ball drop itself began three years later.