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Behind the Ball Drop
Inside this festive New Year’s Eve tradition
Pacific Press Media Production Corp./Alamy Stock Photo (Times Square); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
By the Numbers
1907New York City’s first ball drop was held in 1907.
32,000The current ball is covered with 32,000 LED lights.
3,000More than 3,000 pounds of confetti is released during the countdown.
180 millionNearly 180 million Americans watch from home.
Shutterstock.com
Size it upThe ball drops 75 feet. That’s about four times the height of a giraffe.
The ball weighs 11,875 pounds. That’s about the weight of four pickup trucks.
A Crowd Secret
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, about 1 million people packed into Times Square each year. Many admit to wearing diapers so they could stay in place for hours!
3! 2! 1! . . . Potato? How some cities have made the tradition their own
1. Atlanta, Georgia, drops a peach made of foam and fiberglass.
2. Raleigh, North Carolina, drops a giant copper acorn.
3. Miami, Florida, drops an orange wearing sunglasses.
4. Boise, Idaho, drops a 400-pound model of a potato.
WRITE ABOUT IT! You’ve been put in charge of the local New Year’s Eve celebration. You must choose something to be dropped that represents your town. What would you choose, and why?