The world welcomed 2026 at 12 am on January 1. Crowds rang in the New Year with exuberant celebrations filled with thunderous fireworks or light shows. In New York, people rang in 2026 with the famed Times Square Ball Drop.
A video shared by the news agency Associated Press showed New Yorkers roaring at the countdown to Happy New Year. The ball drop happens, and there are scenes of celebration, love, and enthusiasm for what lies in the year ahead for New York: hundreds of events and programmes, big and small, planned nationwide to mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The ball drop sparkled in red, white, and blue (the colours of the American flag), ushering in 2026 and kicking off months of celebrations for the upcoming 250th birthday of the United States.
Welcome 2026! pic.twitter.com/K72MdFRiSV
— Times Square (@TimesSquareNYC) January 1, 2026
A second ball drop is planned on July 3, the eve of the country's birthday.
When Was The Ball Drop Devised?
The New Year's Eve ball was first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, the 700-pound (318-kilogram), 5-foot- (1.5-meter-) diameter ball was made of iron and wood and featured 100 25-watt light bulbs.
READ: Fireworks, Celebrations: Countries Ring In 2026. This Was The First
In 2024, the Constellation Ball was unveiled, measuring around 12 feet in diameter and weighing nearly 5,400 kilograms.
The only years when the ball drop didn't occur were 1942 and 1943, when New York City instituted a "dimout" during the Second World War to protect itself from attacks.
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