Based on what I found by some web searching, the first Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration was held the night of 1904/12/31-1905/01/01, organized by New York Times owner Adolph Ochs, to promote the opening of their new headquarters at the Times Tower (now One Times Square).
The Times Square ball drop started with the 1907-08 celebration, as a replacement for the original fireworks displays, which the city had banned out of safety concerns.
The first nationwide broadcast of the event was, I think, for 1929-1930. (Some pages I found give the date as “1929” without being clear about whether that was the outgoing or the incoming year. At least one explicitly refers to “December 31, 1928.” But others strongly suggest that the first was 1929-1930.) Coverage switched between Robert Trout reporting from Times Square and Guy Lombardo’s band playing in the Grill Room at the Roosevelt Hotel. Over the course of subsequent years, Ben Grauer replaced Robert Trout reporting from Times Square; the broadcast moved from radio to television; and the Roosevelt closed, leading Lombardo’s portion of the festivities eventually to find a home at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Lombardo’s last NYE broadcast was for 1976-1977. I found video of it on YouTube (title: “Guy Lombardo’s Last New Year’s Eve 1976 Performance”). Near the beginning, a voice-over describes it as “the 48th annual broadcast of New Year’s Eve with Guy Lombardo”, consistent with my guess that “1929” as the date of the first means 1929 going into 1930 and not 1928 going into 1929.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve began (I think) Dec. 31, 1972, and started drawing younger viewers away from Lombardo. I don’t know what other competing NYE broadcasts there were over the years, but Lombardo’s was surely the dominant one in the U.S.—and I’d guess also in Canada—for decades.
When I looked just now, there was a green box about 20% of the way down the page (just above the Featured Collections) that had “Holiday Puzzle Solution!” in white lettering and a link to click for the actual solution.
Toni told Brad years ago (even in Luanniverse time) not to rush her about having children. However she has recently shown signs of starting to think she may be ready.
Based on what I found by some web searching, the first Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration was held the night of 1904/12/31-1905/01/01, organized by New York Times owner Adolph Ochs, to promote the opening of their new headquarters at the Times Tower (now One Times Square).
The Times Square ball drop started with the 1907-08 celebration, as a replacement for the original fireworks displays, which the city had banned out of safety concerns.
The first nationwide broadcast of the event was, I think, for 1929-1930. (Some pages I found give the date as “1929” without being clear about whether that was the outgoing or the incoming year. At least one explicitly refers to “December 31, 1928.” But others strongly suggest that the first was 1929-1930.) Coverage switched between Robert Trout reporting from Times Square and Guy Lombardo’s band playing in the Grill Room at the Roosevelt Hotel. Over the course of subsequent years, Ben Grauer replaced Robert Trout reporting from Times Square; the broadcast moved from radio to television; and the Roosevelt closed, leading Lombardo’s portion of the festivities eventually to find a home at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Lombardo’s last NYE broadcast was for 1976-1977. I found video of it on YouTube (title: “Guy Lombardo’s Last New Year’s Eve 1976 Performance”). Near the beginning, a voice-over describes it as “the 48th annual broadcast of New Year’s Eve with Guy Lombardo”, consistent with my guess that “1929” as the date of the first means 1929 going into 1930 and not 1928 going into 1929.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve began (I think) Dec. 31, 1972, and started drawing younger viewers away from Lombardo. I don’t know what other competing NYE broadcasts there were over the years, but Lombardo’s was surely the dominant one in the U.S.—and I’d guess also in Canada—for decades.