When the publisher held its opening celebration with a display
of fireworks on January 1, 1905, at midnight, it became an annual tradition in Times Square to this day. The famous New Year’s Eve ball drop tradition began in 1907.
The iconic electric news ticker or “zipper”
display was introduced in 1928 and was first
used to announce the results of the U.S. presidential
election that year. Encircling the entire
base of the building, the zipper display was
composed of 14,800 incandescent lightbulbs
and was active twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week.
To this day, the data-driven ticker or zipper
is universally known as one of the most
effective and universally identifiable vehicles
to communicate real-time news and financial
information to the worldwide public.