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New Year's Eve,,,this is cool

songbird

Active Member
Original Poster
813048.jpg


New Year's Eve Ball Twice as Bright with Double-Cut Crystals


NEW YORK (AP) -- The Times Square New Year's Eve ball will shine brighter than ever.

Ready to Ring In the New Year?

Using special drills, workers on Thursday installed 672 double-cut Waterford crystal triangles on the ball for the 100th anniversary of its descent from atop One Times Square.

The "Let There Be Light'' motif features a stylized, radiating sunburst on each of the crystal triangles. The double-cutting maximizes the light refraction, making the New Year's Eve ball twice as bright as last year's Waterford crystal ball.

The 2008 ball also has enhanced color capabilities and energy-efficient, state-of-the-art lighting effects.

(TM & © 2007 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & © 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )

http://www.1010wins.com/pages/1395436.php?contentType=4&contentId=1324812
 

songbird

Active Member
Original Poster
they do change the design periodically. I found these interesting facts:

1907 – The New Year’s Eve Ball first descended from a flagpole at One Times Square, constructed with iron and wood materials with 100 25-watt bulbs weighing 700 pounds (318 kg) and measuring 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter.
1920 – The Ball was replaced with an iron material Ball and weighing less than the original, only 400 pounds (181 kg).
1942 – 1943 – Due to World War II, the descending of the Ball was suspended.
1955 – The Ball gets replaced with a lighter Ball weighing 150 pounds (68 kg).
1981 – 1988 – Due to I Love New York campaign, there are red light bulbs and green stem in a design of an apple.
1989 – The traditional white bulbs again get put on the Ball.
1995 – The Ball gets computerized, aluminium coated, rhinestoned, and has strobe light system.
1999 – The aluminium Ball gets replaced.
2000 – 2006 – The Ball gets an overhaul for the new millennium celebrations with a design from Waterford Crystal and new technology. It weighs 1070 pounds (485 kg), measures six feet (1.8 m) in diameter and installed with 504 crystal triangles, illuminated externally with 168 halogen light bulbs and internally with 432 light bulbs of clear, red, blue, green and yellow colors. Each year there is a theme in the Waterford crystal concept with a particular chunk of designed crystals being called something, and in previous years there have been for example “Hope for Fellowship,” “Hope for Wisdom,” “Hope for Unity,” “Hope for Courage,” “Hope for Healing,” “Hope for Abundance” etc. There are strobe lights and mirrors to create bursts of excitement and special effects for the audience.
2007 – The ball is still a Waterford Crystal ball as in 2000-2006 (described above), but is lit by LED lights provided by Philips instead of halogen bulbs for the 2007 edition and the forseeable future. The ball was redesigned by a New York City lighting design firm called Focus Lighting.
2008 Marks the 100th Anniversary of the Ball Drop, so this year we will be seeing a new ball. The Times Square Alliance reports that it will be quite the spectacle:
The new Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball is more than twice as bright as the old one, with enhanced color capabilities and state-of-the-art LED lighting effects. Waterford Crystal crafted a beautiful new design for the crystal triangles on the Ball. Philips Lighting provided new solid state lighting technology that substantially increased the brightness, energy efficiency, and color capabilities of the Ball. And Focus Lighting developed a spectacular and unique lighting design for the new Ball on its 100th birthday.
 

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