Buzz
If there's one custom that truly captures the spirit of New Year’s Eve, it’s the classic tradition of overindulgence in alcohol. Another staple of the celebration, however, is the countdown to midnight, marking the official arrival of the new year.
Countdowns can be heard on TV, at bars, and in personal gatherings, with people counting down from 10 as the old year fades away. But why exactly do we observe this countdown at the stroke of midnight to ring in the new year?
According to historian and timekeeping expert Alexis McCrossen, the reason behind this tradition likely traces back to a radio announcer named Benjamin Franklin Grauer, or Ben Grauer. In 1957, Grauer was stationed at his post in Times Square, New York City. In an effort to vividly describe the scene for his NBC listeners, he provided a detailed play-by-play of the iconic ball drop at midnight.
'58 is coming, 5-4-3-2-1,’ Grauer announced. ‘The ball is beginning its descent, marking the arrival of ’58.’
However, Grauer's count was solitary. The crowd in Times Square did not join in, mostly because his radio broadcast was inaudible to them, and also because a collective countdown had not yet become a trend.
Eventually, Grauer moved his broadcasts to television, where he continued the tradition of counting down during the ball drop. Other broadcasts soon adopted the same practice, including the iconic Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
By this time, the concept of a countdown was no longer alien to TV viewers. The 1960s had witnessed the launch of several space shuttles, each marked by a precise countdown to the second.
According to McCrossen, a true New Year’s crowd chant didn’t emerge until 1978, when another gathering in Times Square saw people counting down to welcome 1979. By the late 1980s, countdown clocks became commonplace, and televised New Year’s events began incorporating a countdown as part of the festivities.
Countdowns have been a constant for generations, marking moments for everything from nuclear detonations to the start of a broadcast. Yet, there is no greater example of large crowds performing simple arithmetic in unison than at the close of another year.
