December 28,2006 - New Year's Eve Trivia

Well, tonight we had the last net of 2006. Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for your support!

New Year's Eve Trivia

Each year millions of people the world over watch as the famous New Year's Eve Ball drops in New York's Times Square to mark the beginning of the new year.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

In what year did the Times Square ball drop first take place?

TRIVIA ANSWER:

1907.

Revelers began celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year's Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. This original Ball, constructed of iron and wood and adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. In 1920, a 400 pound ball made entirely of iron replaced the original.


The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when its use was suspended due to the wartime "dimout" of lights in New York City. The crowds who still gathered in Times Square in those years greeted the New Year with a moment of silence followed by chimes ringing out from One Times Square.

n 1955, the iron ball was replaced with an aluminum ball weighing a mere 150 pounds. This aluminum Ball remained unchanged until the 1980s, when red light bulbs and the addition of a green stem converted the Ball into an apple for the "I Love New York" marketing campaign from 1981 until 1988. After seven years, the traditional Ball with white light bulbs and without the green stem returned to brightly light the sky above Times Square. In 1995, the Ball was upgraded with aluminum skin, rhinestones, strobes, and computer controls, but the aluminum ball was lowered for the last time in 1998.

For Times Square 2000, the millennium celebration at the Crossroads of the World, the New Year's Eve Ball was completely redesigned by Waterford Crystal. The new crystal Ball combined the latest in technology with the most traditional of materials, reminding us of our past as we gazed into the future and the beginning of a new millenium.

For more about the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, visit: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_ball.html


********** Tonight's Net Check-In's **********


Here's the list of folks that checked in to tonight's Thursday Night Net and their answers to tonight's trivia question:

WB6A - Pat - 1950
WB6ATV - Ron - 1948
KE6CZH - Robert - 1952
KG6DBL - Bill - 1902
K6FCC - Khalil - 1936
KF6GKR - Terry - 1960
KB6IS - Madeline - 1948
KD6JEV - John - 1904 <<<<
WA6JWF - Joey -1929
N6KAS - Andy - 1946
KG6KTC - Leon - 1946
NY6L - Jay - 1948
K6LMN - Roger - 1946
KE6MSS - Thomas - 1926
KG6NWJ - Barry - 1953
KG6RDA - Sidney - 1946
AD6UP - Louie - 1945
WA6USL - Murray - 1900
KF6ZQM - Harry - Dick Clark's Birthday
N6ZZK - Theo - 1921
KG6WAP - Danial - No Answer


Thanks to all and I hope everyone had a great 2006 and will have a greater 2007!


73, N6CIZ