next. In the Christian community, “Watch Night” refers to worship services held on New Year’s Eve. At 11:59 p.m., the Ball begins its descent as millions of voices unite to countdown the final seconds of the year, and celebrate the beginning of a new year full of hopes, challenges, changes and dreams.BALL FUN FACTS Black History: Special Delivery!! ABOUT THE NEW YEAR'S EVE BALLEach year, millions of eyes from all over the world are focusedon the sparkling Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year's Eve Ball. In 1982, four bombs exploded at government buildings in New York on New Year's Eve. Shop the Pop-Up. In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve (also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries), the last day of the year, is on 31 December. Here's one theory about the origins of the New Year's Eve kiss and the history of kissing at midnight in America, according to a historian. Discover the History. Watch Night services have been celebrated since the 1700’s. The new crystal ball combined the latest in technology with the most traditional of materials, reminding us of our past as we gazed into the future and the beginning of a new millennium. Approximately 2 million people attended the 2000 New Year's Eve Celebration. New Year's Eve, 12/31/1953 By the 1950s, the movies had taken over as a major entertainment force in Times Square, with dozens of motion picture theaters lining Broadway and Seventh Avenue all through the Bowtie between 42nd Street and 47th Street and beyond, as seen in this photo from the New Year’s Eve December 31, 1954.

The New Year's Eve ball drop tradition harks back to time balls, a form of public time keeping that was popular in the 19th century. 2000: For New Year's Eve in 2000, the millennium celebration, the New Year's Eve ball was completely redesigned by Waterford Crystal. The New Year’s celebration to usher in 2019 will include an event like no other – more than four billion miles from Earth.