The 101-Year History of the Times Square Ball Drop
If you had to guess at the origins of the ball dropping on New Year’s Eve, I doubt you would think it had a nautical beginning, but that’s exactly where it comes from. A time ball is a large, painted ball made from metal or wood. Situated on the top of observatories or time stations, it was dropped at a precise time so that sailors could check their marine chronometers and determine their longitude, which helped with navigation. The first ball was erected in 1829 in Portsmouth by its inventor Robert Wauchope. The first principal time ball was installed atop England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833 and was lowered daily at 1 p.m. After radio time signals were established in 1924, the balls became obsolete. However, at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington DC, a time ball descends from a flagpole at noon each day.
Interesting Ball-Dropping Facts
In 1907, the first year the ball dropped, it was one second late
