Times photographer Chester Higgins Jr. captured technicians in 1978, eyeing a new-and-improved ball that would soon descend during the annual New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square.

No big deal, but in 1907, The Times invented the Times Square ball drop. "The descent of an electric ball will mark the arrival of 1908 tonight," read a short item in the newspaper on December 31 of that year. The original ball was five feet in diameter. Its light came from 216 electric lamps. It descended from the top of a flagpole to the roof of the Times Tower, flashing "the youngster's name to the four quarters of the town." (The youngster being 1908.)