India, Sept. 30 -- Every year, millions of people watch a glowing sphere slowly descend during the final seconds of the year in New York's Times Square. But the iconic ball drop began as a replacement for a banned fireworks display.

The ball that started the tradition weighed 700 pounds and was made of iron and wood, fitted with 100 electric light bulbs. The first ball drop took place at midnight on December 31, 1907, ushering in 1908.

The idea was the brainchild of New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs, who was looking for a novel way to draw crowds to Times Square after the city banned the fireworks that had been part of the newspaper's New Year's Eve celebrations.

The Times had opened a bureau in Times Square in 1905, and Ochs had su...