India, July 4 -- For the first time in its history, the Times Square Ball descended on a date other than New Year's Eve this week, marking America's 250th birthday with a rolling sequence of eight separate drops timed to midnight in every US time zone and inhabited territory, organisers said, transforming the city's most recognisable countdown ritual into a coast-to-coast, 24-hour celebration.

The first drop took place at 10 am Eastern time Friday, marking midnight in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, according to America250, the bipartisan organisation established by Congress to oversee the nation's semiquincentennial commemorations.

From there, the ball descended roughly once every hour or two through the day and into Saturday mo...