The first Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop was held in 1907.
The event was organized by The New York Times to celebrate the newspaper's new headquarters in Times Square, then called Longacre Square. The first ball was lowered from a flagpole atop the Times building at midnight on December 31, 1907.
The tradition continued after the first event, although the ball was not lowered in 1942 or 1943 because New York City observed a wartime blackout during World War II. Crowds still gathered in Times Square, but midnight was marked by a minute of silence followed by church bells. The modern ball is much more elaborate than the original, which was made of iron and wood and illuminated with electric lights. A common mix-up is assuming the ball drop began with the television era; it predates regular television broadcasting by decades.