What famous New Year’s Eve object drops in New York City’s Times Square at midnight?
Answer
The Times Square Ball
The Times Square Ball is the famous New Year’s Eve object that descends in New York City at midnight.
The first ball drop took place on December 31, 1907, to welcome 1908. Newspaper publisher Adolph Ochs organized the event as a celebration for the newly named Times Square, then known as Longacre Square before 1904.
The modern ball is a brightly lit geodesic sphere covered with Waterford crystal panels. Its size and design have changed several times, and the current version is much larger and more technologically advanced than the original illuminated iron-and-wood ball.
The ball begins its descent shortly before midnight and reaches the bottom at the start of the new year. People sometimes call it a “crystal ball,” but its formal popular name is the Times Square Ball.