The Times Square Ball was first dropped on New Year's Eve in 1907.
The first ball was created for the New York Times' New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square. The newspaper had moved its headquarters to the newly renamed Times Square, and publisher Adolph Ochs wanted a dramatic midnight spectacle after earlier fireworks displays were restricted.
The original ball was made of iron and wood, decorated with electric lights, and measured about five feet in diameter. It descended from a flagpole atop the Times building at midnight on December 31, 1907. The event became an annual tradition, although the ball was not lowered in 1942 or 1943 because wartime blackout rules prohibited the celebration's usual lights.
The ball is often confused with the building itself: the modern descent takes place at One Times Square, while the tradition began at the former New York Times headquarters.