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In 1904, Ochs moved The New York Times to a newly built building on Longacre Square in Manhattan, which the City of New York then renamed as Times Square. On New Year's Eve 1904, Ochs had pyrotechnists illuminate his new building at One Times Square with a fireworks show from street level.
- 1907. The first New Year's Eve Ball was commissioned by Adolph Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, per the Times Square Alliance. Ochs began throwing New Year's Eve parties in 1905 to celebrate the Times' new headquarters in the eponymous square in Manhattan, including dazzling fireworks displays from atop the One Times Square building.
- 1920. In 1920, Artkraft Strauss designed a new ball for the traditional drop. The design weighed only 400 pounds and was made entirely of wrought iron.
- 1955. Artkraft Strauss redesigned the ball again in 1955. The wrought iron ball was replaced with an aluminum ball that kept the same dimensions as its predecessors, though it weighed only 150 pounds.
- 1981. From 1981 to 1988, former New York City mayor Ed Koch redesigned the ball with red light bulbs and a green stem to convert the ball into an apple.
Adolph S. Ochs, owner and publisher of The New York Times from 1896 to 1935, saw an opportunity and selected a highly visible location to build the Times Tower, which was the second tallest building in the city at the time.
Dec 29, 2022 · History. Who Was Adolph Ochs, The Man Behind The New Year's Eve Ball? Simon Dux Media/Shutterstock. By Leslie Veliz / Dec. 29, 2022 4:07 pm EST. Every New Year's Eve, an estimated one million people brave New York's cold temperatures to witness the iconic ball drop in Times Square (via the Times Herald-Record ).
Dec 31, 2015 · Publisher Adolph Ochs in 1918. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons) By 9 p.m., so many revelers packed the square that motion in any direction was impossible. A few minutes before midnight,...
Mar 12, 2015 · The ball drop at Times Square in New York has become a universally recognized symbol of an annual new beginning. It was all the idea of a former Knoxvillian. Adolph Ochs was the son of Bavarian Jewish immigrants.
Dec 27, 2017 · The biggest night of the year was quickly approaching, and Adolph S. Ochs needed to find new entertainment for his New Year’s Eve party. For the previous three years, the New York Times ...
