“I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, ‘toys not included.'”
~ Bernard Manning ~
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Things You Never Knew About New Year'sBaby New Year is actually really old.
Baby New Year has been a symbol of the holiday since around 600 B.C., starting in ancient Greece when an infant was paraded around in a basket in celebration of Dionysus, the god of fertility (and wine). The baby represents a rebirth that occurs at the start of each new year.
The guy credited with Auld Lang Syne didn't fully write it.
Robert Burns took a Scottish folk song called "Old Long Syne" and put his own spin on it in 1788, which is the version we all know today. Auld lang syne means "times long past."
Time balls were invented to help sailors.
Long before it was used on New Year's Eve, a ball on top of England's Royal Observatory in Greenwich was dropped at 1 p.m. every day (starting in 1833) to help ship captains coordinate their navigation equipment. Similar balls were set up in coastal areas around the world.
Though the parties raged on, there wasn't a ball drop until 1907.
Fireworks were previously used to welcome the new year, but they were banned because burning embers were falling on the crowd. A ball being lowered on a flagpole was a safer bet.
The first Times Square New Year's party was thrown for a newspaper.
The annual tradition of gathering in Times Square for New Year's started as a party to celebrate the opening of the New York Times building in 1904. Over 200,000 people attended.
It's been a spectacle every year since, except for during World War II.
Wartime restrictions put the tradition on pause in 1942 and 1943. Times Square revelers observed a moment of silence at midnight instead.
The Times Square ball's weight has yo-yoed.
The original ball was made from 700 pounds of iron and wood. It was later reduced to just 400 pounds of wrought iron before they switched to an aluminum frame in 1955. The now 11,875 pound ball didn't get its new look (and materials) until the millenium when Waterford partnered with Philips Lighting to create a shimmery LED display.
Waterford comes up with a new ball pattern every year.
The sphere is made up of 2,688 crystal triangles and has over 32,000 lights. It also displays over 16 million color patterns. 2018's latest design is called "The Gift of Serenity," which includes cuts that resemble butterflies drifting through the air. Don't you feel calmer already?
2,000 pounds of confetti are also dropped in Times Square.
Confetti may not be a new concept, but in 2015 "wishfetti" became a part of the tradition. People write their wishes for the new year and submit them to the Wish Wall in Times Square (or online) and those wishes are turned into the confetti that falls over the crowd at midnight.
Instead of a ball, Miami, Florida rings in the new year with an orange.
The raising of Mr. Neon, the 35-foot, sunglass-clad metal fruit, has been a tradition for over 30 years.
...while over in Kew West, Florida, a drag queen descends in a shoe.
The female impersonator named Sushi is lowered from a bar rooftop in a giant, red, high-heeled shoe. This has been happening since 1996.
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Good morning everyboomie.
First off, Happy Birthday to my baby sis.
Happy day after Christmas to everyone else.
Speaking of sis, she came by today spreading Christmas cheer. She brought bon bons. Yum
I take back all the bad things I said about her.
We were around 70 degrees again here today. Windy but very nice.
We may go shoot some guns Thursday. I'm not sure yet, I need to call the property owner first.
It's great when a holiday falls in the middle of the week isn't it? Then we still have the weekend to look forward to.
Have a happy day everyone.
joe
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Bon Bons ... oh yum! We're in the 70's too Joe ... enjoy before you go under freezing again!!
