Fact-A-Day from Harry K. – January 1, 2008

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.

“Auld Lang Syne” is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700s, it was first published in 1796 after Burns’ death.
The first rooftop celebration atop One Times Square in New York City, complete with a fireworks display, took place on December 31, 1907, and is now a worldwide symbol of the turn of the New Year, seen via satellite by more than one billion people each year.
Before this time, New Yorkers rang in the New Year at Trinity Church. Considered to be mild in comparison to the Times Square celebration, Trinity Church was a favorite during the 1890s and up to 1907. The area known today as Time Square was originally known as Longacre Square.
The New Year’s Ball was brought into existence as a key element of the midnight celebration because city officials had to ban fire works due to the fire hazard.
The New York Times produced this event to inaugurate its new headquarters in Times Square and celebrate the renaming of Longacre Square to Times Square.
The original New Year’s Eve Ball weighed an astounding 700 pounds and was 5 feet in diameter. It was made of iron and wood and was decorated with 100 25-watt light bulbs.
Today’s ball is actually a geodesic sphere which weighs over 1,000 pounds. It contains almost 700 lights and 90 rotating pyramid mirrors. This ball also includes the latest electronics to help enhance the overall experience. Thanks to satellite technology, over 1 billion view the celebration on television. This is about the same amount of viewers who watch the annual Super Bowl game.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services.