The first Times Square ball drop occurred in 1907.
The inaugural drop took place on December 31, 1907, welcoming the year 1908. It replaced the fireworks displays that had celebrated New Year’s Eve at The New York Times’ headquarters in Times Square. Fireworks had become difficult to continue after New York City restricted displays launched directly over crowds.
The original ball was built from iron and wood, measured about 5 feet in diameter, weighed roughly 700 pounds and contained 100 incandescent light bulbs. Six men used a rope to lower it down a 70-foot flagpole. When it reached the roof at midnight, an electrical circuit illuminated large year numerals on the building.
The date is often confused with 1904, which was the year of the first Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration. The ball drop also paused during the wartime blackouts of 1942 and 1943, but otherwise became an annual tradition.