On this day, December 27th, 1904, the first New Year’s Eve celebration planning begins for Times Square.
Today’s quiz is about the Ball in Times Square
Background
The first Times Square Ball Drop occurred on December 31, 1907, after New York City banned fireworks. Organizers needed a new visual signal to mark midnight. The original ball was 5 feet in diameter, weighed about 700 pounds, was made of iron and wood, and contained 100 incandescent light bulbs. It was lowered manually using a rope-and-pulley system.
Today’s ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds. It contains 2,688 hand-cut Waterford crystal triangles designed to achieve specific light refraction. The ball sits atop One Times Square year-round and begins its descent each December 31st at 11:59 PM.
https://www.businessinsider.com/times-square-ball-history
The Quiz:
a) How many LED lights are on the ball?
b) In what year did the ball switch from incandescent bulbs to LEDs?
Bonus: In which year/s was the ball not dropped?
The Answers:
a) 32,256 bulbs
b) 2007 year
Bonus: 1942 and 1943, due to World War II blackout restrictions
The Winners:
Bonus Question Response:
A number of folks correctly answered the Bonus question regarding the years the Ball not dropping during WW2 years.
WK8G
N1PZB
K8EA
K3HP
KF4XD
NA3AR
K5WDW
K3WGS
KE4SKA
LED Light Transition Year Response:
K3WGS- Jerry, had the correct 2007 year answer
Numer of LED’s on Today’s Ball Respose:
K3WGS- Jerry, had the exact number with 32,256 bulbs.
Thanks, to all that participated in today’s Net!
-K4RJT/Ron