On December 31, 1904, the first New Years Eve celebration was held in New York City, New York. Since 1917, a huge ball has been dropped on top of One Times Square every year to celebrate the New Year. The custom derives from the time signal that used to be given at noon in harbors. From 1981-1988 a huge apple was dropped instead to recognize the nickname of New York City, "The Big Apple," but that was stopped after a few years.
The 11,875-pound, 12-foot diameter Waterford crystal ball located high above Times Square is lowered, starting at 11:59 pm and reaches the bottom of its tower sixty seconds later, at the stroke of midnight. The crowd along with the host of the show usually counts down the final ten seconds as the ball is dropped. Toshiba's Times Square advertising screen will also tell the viewer exactly when the New Year officially begins.
Since 1972, Dick Clark has hosted an ABC program that televises the live event. In 2009 he was joined by Ryan Seacrest. Although there are scores of other television hosts that have their own programs, Dick Clark's is widely regarded as the largest and most popular one.
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