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"At 11:59 pm EST on Dec. 31, the Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year's Eve Ball will begin its descent from the pole atop One Times Square in New York City. Each year, more than one billion people worldwide watch with bated breath, collectively counting down the seconds to a new year.\nAmong a night of musical performances and celebrity appearances, the glimmering New Year's Eve Ball remains the true star of the show and the reason an estimated one million people head to Times Square for the festivities. \nSee also: 7 New Year's Resolutions That Take 5 Seconds Each\nRing in 2014 with eight fun facts from the Times Square Alliance about the famous New Year's Eve Ball.\n\n\nNYE Ball Facts\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. The New Year's Eve Ball is a geodesic sphere that's 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds.\n\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. The ball is covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles.\nThese triangles vary in size and range in length from 4.75 to 5.75 inches.\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs illuminate the ball.\nThey let the ball shine in 16 million colors and billions of patterns.\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. In 1907, the NYE ball made its first descent on the flagpole atop One Times Square.\n\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. The ball has descended every year since 1907, with the exception of 1942 and 1943, due to the wartime \"dimout\" in New York City.\n\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. There have been seven versions of the NYE Ball.\nThe first was crafted from wood and iron, weighed 700 pounds and was covered in 100 light bulbs. In 1999, 92 years after the first ball drop, the Waterford Crystal version  was built to ring in the new millennium. In 2007, modern LED technology replaced the older bulbs to celebrate the ceremony's 100 year anniversary, and in 2008 the permanent NYE ball was revealed atop One Times Square.\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. The tradition of dropping a ball to signify time predates the NYE Ball.\n\nThe first \"time-ball\" was built on top of England's Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England in 1833. Each day, ship captains watched the ball drop at 1 p.m. and set their chronometers (a navigational tool) accordingly. \nIn addition to the annual NYE Ball drop, the tradition lives on in places like the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, where a ball drops every day at noon. \n\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. The NYE Ball is now a glimmering New York City attraction that people can visit year-round.\n\n\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\nImage: Mashable, Christina Ascani"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/12/31/new-years-eve-ball-facts/>