Since 1907 the "ball dropping" on top of One Times Square in New York City is a major component of the New Year celebration. The 11,875-pound (5,386 kg), 12-foot (3.7 m) diameter Waterford crystal ball located high above Times Square is lowered, starting at 11:59:00 pm and reaching the bottom of its tower sixty seconds later, at the stroke of midnight. (After fifty seconds has passed, the crowd will count down the final ten seconds along with the hosts of various New Year's Eve shows. Toshiba's Times Square advertising screen will also tell the viewers when the New Year officially starts, which debuted in the 2009-10 edition.) From 1981 to 1988, the city dropped a large apple in recognition of its nickname as "the Big Apple".[citation needed] Similar ball drops are performed in many towns and cities across the United States. The custom derives from the time signal that used to be given at noon in harbors.
From 1972 onward (except 2005), Dick Clark has hosted televised coverage of the event called Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, shown on ABC, and now renamed Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest for the arrival of 2009 with Ryan Seacrest handling hosting duties. On December 31, 1999, the show was integrated into ABC 2000 Today, with Dick Clark reporting during the "ABC 2000" broadcast and an introduction from Peter Jennings, saying some would not consider it the New Year if Dick Clark did not count it down. Between 1951 and 1976, Ben Grauer was known for his live television coverage of New Year's Eve at Times Square in New York. From 1956 to 1976 on CBS, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians serenaded the United States from the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue in New York City. After Lombardo's death in 1977, the Royal Canadians continued on CBS until 1978, and Happy New Year, America replaced it in 1979, continuing until 1995. The song Auld Lang Syne has become a popular song to sing at midnight on New Year's Eve, with the Lombardo version being the standard. NBC also has hosted New Year's coverage; traditionally, the networks' late night hosts have hosted special editions of their regular shows (including a special Central Time Zone-specific countdown on Late Night with Conan O'Brien), but since 2005, the network has opted for a special entitled New Year's Eve with Carson Daly in which Carson Daly hosted the program. Fox, CNN, and Fox News Channel also have their own New Year's specials along with the Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision.
New Year's Eve is traditionally the busiest day of the year at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California, where the parks stay open late and the usual nightly fireworks are supplemented by an additional New Year's Eve-specific show at midnight.
Over 60 cities nationwide celebrate First Night, a non-alcohol family-friendly New Year's Celebration, generally featuring performing artists, community events, parades, and fireworks displays to celebrate the New Year.
In the Roman Catholic Church, January 1st is a Holy Day of Obligation honoring Mary, Mother of God. It is required that all faithful Catholics attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on January 1st. However, since in the Catholic Church, a vigil Mass may be held on the evening before a Holy Day, it has become customary to celebrate Mass on the evening of New Year's Eve.
Many Protestant Christian congregations have New Year's Eve watchnight services. Some, especially Lutherans and Methodists and those in the African American community, have a tradition known as "Watch Night", in which the faithful congregate in services continuing past midnight, giving thanks for the blessings of the outgoing year and praying for divine favor during the upcoming year. Watch Night can be traced back to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who learned the custom from the Moravian Brethren who came to England in the 1730s. Moravian congregations still observe the Watch Night service on New Year's Eve. Watch Night took on special significance to African Americans on New Year's Eve 1862, as slaves anticipated the arrival of January 1, 1863, when Lincoln had announced he would sign the Emancipation Proclamation.
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