In 1904 , the same year The New York Times construction open at the intersection of 42nd Street , 43rd Street , and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan , the first New Year ’s Eve brawl was held inTimes Square . The event was entail to distinguish the newspaper ’s modulation to its new headquarters , but it has since morphed into something much more significant . To follow the evolution ofNew Year ’s Eve in Times Squareover the past century , check up on out the video below .
This compilation fromMitchel Ryan Malleeon YouTube starts with newspaper coverage and still photographs of the earliest celebrations before transitioning to footage from the thirties . By then , theiconic nut drophad become a fundamental component of the political party . It was introduced as a via media in 1907 , after the city banned the pyrotechnic displays used to signalize midnight during late event . The New York Timespublisher Adolph S. Ochs commission Russian immigrant Jacob Starr to plan an electric alternative . When the 700 - pound ball and its 100 25 - watt bulbs were lowered on January 1 , 1908 , it was easy to forget the omit firework .
In the 1970s , footage of New Year ’s Eve in Times Square upgraded from fatal - and - white-hot to color . This tenner also saw some celebrities join the playfulness , let in George Carlin , Billy Preston , and of course , farsighted - clock time boniface Dick Clark .
One constant throughout the decade has been the massive gang that pile up to watch out the Lucille Ball descend . On December 31 , 1939 , roughlyhalf a millionpeople packed into Times Square . Even with societal distancing measure in position for last year ’s celebration , the square still fit15,000 pedestrian . After watching more than a century of New Year ’s Eve history above , take these factsabout the vacation .
