Times Square ball retires, ending a historic chapter in New Year’s tradition
After years of marking the New Year’s Eve countdown, the iconic Times Square ball has made its final descent, signaling both the start of 2025 and the end of an era. The glittering sphere, which has been watched by millions each year, is retiring to become part of a new immersive exhibit, joining its predecessors as a piece of history.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, crowds formed in Times Square to witness the ball’s final 139-foot drop, not to mark a new year but to make room for a new iteration.
“These balls have helped us take time and ring in the New Year throughout all of our lifetimes,” said Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, the real estate firm that owns One Times Square. “Many of our memories are embedded in this.”
The Times Square ball’s retirement marks the end of a chapter. The ball has seen a number of iterations, from the first wooden version, weighing 700 pounds in 1907, to the current version, a six-ton sphere outfitted with Waterford crystals.
After lighting up the skies over Times Square for nearly two decades, the ball will join other historic versions in a new exhibit set to open this fall.
The new exhibit will allow visitors to explore the evolution of the Times Square ball. Organizers are planning to deliver an immersive experience to a tradition that has marked the passage of time for over a century.
International nonprofit wants to protect moon sites from space tourism
For the first time ever, the World Monuments Fund, whose mission is to preserve cultural heritage sites around the globe, is now setting its sights beyond Earth. The organization, founded in 1996, announced on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that the moon is among 25 at-risk sites, with the expectation that trips to the lunar surface will become the norm in the not-so-distant future.
The WMF warns that moon tourism could someday threaten more than 90 lunar landing and impact sites, including Tranquility Base, where U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon.
WMF officials said they fear the lunar landscape may be victim to looters looking for souvenirs and private lunar exploration, potentially destroying iconic footprints and tracks that are part of human history if something isn’t done to protect them now.
The organization is urging international collaboration to preserve the moon, but currently no such organization exists, and no one country can lay claim to the Earth’s only natural satellite.
The WMF creates the at-risk list to raise awareness and spur action to preserve important artifacts and sites around the world, and now space.
Millions of Americans’ location data compromised in apparent hack
A new hack and data breach by Russian cybercriminals has threatened the private information of millions of people around the world. Gravy Analytics, one of the largest companies that tracks peoples’ data through smartphone location data collected from widely used mobile apps like games and dating apps, was hacked last week.
The full scale of the breach is not yet known. However, an alleged hacker posted a gigabyte of data on a Russian-language cybercrime forum last week and threatened to share terabytes more unless Gravy Analytics paid a ransom.
The amount of the ransom was not specified and the post has since been removed, raising suspicion among analysts that Gravy complied.
Cybersecurity experts who downloaded the information before it was removed and analyzed it have said the hack appears authentic.
Gravy’s parent company, Unacast, which has an office in Norway, has not publicly acknowledged the breach in America. However, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported on Saturday, Jan. 11, that it had disclosed the breach to Norway’s data protection authorities as required under the country’s law.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission accused Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary, Venntel, of illegally collecting and selling Americans’ location data. The FTC said some people gravy tracked were monitored going into sensitive locations like government buildings, health clinics and places of worship.
Scientists say 1.2-million-year-old ice may solve mystery of Earth’s past
Scientists in Antarctica announced on Thursday, Jan. 9, that they have extracted what is believed to be the world’s oldest ice. The team from Europe drilled nearly two miles to obtain the ancient ice, as they work to unravel the mysteries of the planet’s prehistoric climate.
The 1.2-million-year-old ice core, which is reportedly the length of about “eight Eifel Towers end-to-end,” is now expected to give researchers better insight into how Earth’s atmosphere and climate has transformed over hundreds of thousands of years.
Preserved within the ice are reportedly “ancient air bubbles” which could reveal how greenhouse gases, atmospheric chemicals and dust levels have changed.
The study expands on earlier research that shows concentrations of greenhouse gases over the last 800,000 years never went beyond the levels seen since “the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.”
Through analysis of the ice core, researchers aim to answer questions about climate shifts of the past, and determine the long-term impact of human activities.
Scientists also hope the research may reveal what happened 900,000 to 1.2 million years ago, when “glacial cycles” changed, and some researchers said humans’ ancestors narrowly escaped extinction.
The scientists said their working temperatures averaged around negative 35 degrees Celsius. The core was reportedly drilled in one of the most remote areas of Antarctica. The project was a four-year effort.
How New Year’s Eve at Times Square has changed over 120 years
An estimated 1 million people are expected to pack New York City’s Times Square to ring in 2025, as a billion more watch from their homes across the world. Among the throngs of spectators there will be 3,000 pounds of confetti and, of course, the Times Square Ball.
The ball weighs 11,875 pounds, and is covered in 2,688 crystal triangles, all of which have been made for this year’s celebration. But dropping the Times Square Ball was not the original way revelers rang in the year at the Big Apple’s famous intersection.
In December 1904, The New York Times wanted to find a way to celebrate its new headquarters, the Times Tower at Broadway and Seventh Avenue. The paper’s owner, Adolph S. Ochs, decided to throw a celebration on New Year’s Eve at Longacre Square which, thanks to a resolution by then Mayor George B. McClellan, had recently been renamed in the newspaper’s honor — to Times Square.
The inaugural New Year’s Eve festivities did not have a ball, but fireworks and dynamite.
According to The New York Times account of the event, the tower appeared to catch fire as the 200,000 spectators looked on. But it was all part of the show, as well as Ochs’ plan to put his new headquarters front and center.
The pyro display was produced that night by chemist Henry J. Pain, who had worked on the presidential inauguration of William McKinley.
Fireworks would also help usher in the next two new years, but by New Year’s Eve of 1907 fireworks were banned and a new tradition was born. The New York Times replaced explosives with a ball, a take on “time balls” from the 1830s that helped signal the passage of time, especially for navigators of ships.
According to the Times Square Association, the first time ball was installed atop England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. The ball would drop at 1 p.m. every afternoon, allowing nearby captains to precisely set their ship’s navigational sea clocks.
So as 1907 turned into 1908, a 700-pound, electrified ball was lowered from the top of The New York Times building, as waiters around Times Square wore battery-powered hats that lit up to show the year at midnight.
The first New Year’s Eve ball was made of iron and wood, and was decorated with 100 25-watt light bulbs.
1907: 700-pound, electrified wood made of iron and wood.
1920: 400-pound ball made of wrought iron.
1955: A 155-pound aluminum ball.
1980s: The ball was transformed into an apple for the “I Love New York” marketing campaign.
2000: New crystal ball was dropped.
2007: LED lights.
2009: 6-ton geodesic sphere with Waterford crystals.
The New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square has seen a ball drop every year since ringing in 1908, except for two years, 1942 and 1943, due to the “dimout” of lights in New York City during World War II.
While the ball has changed, the location hasn’t. It’s still being dropped this year from that same building, once called the Times Tower, today known as One Times Square.
Site of 1978 Jonestown massacre in Guyana to become tourist attraction
The scene of the largest mass murder-suicide in recent world history is becoming a tourist attraction, according to a report from NBC News on Thursday, Dec. 12. A South African tour group is turning the site of Jonestown in Guyana, where more than 900 adults and children died in 1978, into a travel destination.
The first tour group is reportedly ready to visit the site in January. The experience costs $650 and meant for small groups. Visitors will get an overnight experience to educate them on the lessons of the tragedy. The tour company’s owner says while tragic, Jonestown is an important part of the country’s history and has “global significance.”
With the help of the Guyanese government, Wanderlust Adventures will teach about “cult psychology, manipulation and abuse of power.” All while taking people to notable spots where the massacre unfolded.
Once a commune founded by American Rev. Jim Jones and hundreds of his followers, the living compound would later become home to the Jonestown Massacre. Jones ordered his followers to drink cyanide mixed with a flavored beverage.
A U.S. representative and two NBC News crew members died, while a congressional staffer sustained injuries that day. They were shot while attempting to board a plane after visiting the commune.
Despite the history, some in Guyana are reportedly uneasy about tourists visiting a site with such a dark past.
However, Wanderlust Adventures disagrees, noting that tourists from all over the world pay to see places like Chernobyl in Ukraine and Nazi concentration camps in Poland. The owner of the company adds, “it’s not to dwell on the tragedy” but rather to “understand the events” and make sure “histories are neither repeated nor forgotten.”
New expedition reveals decay of the historic Titanic shipwreck
The Titanic may have survived more than a century at the bottom of the ocean, but time is finally taking its toll. Newly released photos show a fallen chunk of the ship’s iconic bow railing on the ocean floor.
RMS Titanic Inc., the American company that holds the salvage rights to the wreck, recently finished its ninth remote imaging expedition, and a significant discovery was made during the mission in July.
A 15-foot section of the ship’s bow railing, made famous by the 1997 movie Titanic, in the scene where Jack holds Rose over the front of the ship, has now broken away and rests on the ocean floor.
In a statement on its website, the company expressed sadness over the loss. It also mentions that even though Titanic’s collapse is inevitable, this evidence strengthens its mission to preserve and document what it can before it’s too late.
The remote imaging also revealed another find, a bronze statuette of the Roman goddess Diana, known as “Diana of Versailles.” When the ship sank, the lounge was torn open and the statue ended up in the debris field where it remained for over a century.
Just hours before the end of this most recent expedition, the team managed to locate and photograph the statue, which hadn’t been seen in 112 years.
Student protesters take over Columbia building after deadline passes
Student protesters took over a building on the campus of Columbia University. And four law enforcement officers were killed while serving a warrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Student protesters take over Hamilton Hall after Columbia’s deadline passes
Student demonstrators at Columbia University protesting the war in Gaza broke into a campus building and occupied Hamilton Hall, just hours after the university’s deadline passed for students to clear their pro-Palestinian encampment. The university sent an email to all students advising them to avoid campus.
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A student protest group confirmed its members have “reclaimed” Hamilton Hall, barricading themselves inside. Students took over the same building occupied during a Vietnam protest in 1968 and hung up a banner reading “Hind’s Hall,” in reference to a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza.
Images from the scene show the maintenance crew confronting the protesters inside the building and students forming a human chain blocking the entrance. The New York Police Department said its officers were stationed near the campus but not on the grounds.
The student protesters said they will remain at Hamilton Hall until the university meets their demands, including withdrawing funds for Israeli institutions.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik issued a statement telling protesters to “voluntarily disperse,” saying the encampment has created an “unwelcoming environment for many” of the school’s Jewish students and faculty.
Protesters are seeking the university to divest from Israel, something Shafik said the school will not do. However, in her statement, she said Columbia has offered to develop an expedited timeline for the university to review new divestment proposals from students and has offered to make investments in health and education in Gaza.
Now in its second week, the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia are just one of several occurring at college campuses across the country. On Monday, April 29, arrests were made at encampments at the University of Texas and the University of Florida.
Meanwhile, Northwestern University announced it had reached an agreement with students to continue protests that comply with university rules and policies.
Four officers killed serving warrant during shootout at Charlotte home
Four law enforcement officers were killed Monday, April 29, in a shootout at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Those killed included a deputy U.S. marshal, two members of the North Carolina Department of Corrections and an officer with the Charlotte Police Department.
Authorities came under fire while trying to serve a warrant to a convicted felon for possessing a firearm.
Police said the armed suspect was shot dead after leaving the home. A second person also opened fire on the officers.
The police chief said many questions still need to be answered about what unfolded.
“Today’s an absolute tragic day for the city of Charlotte and for the profession of law enforcement,” Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said. “Today we lost some heroes who are out to simply keep our community safe.”
After the three-hour standoff came to an end, a woman and a 17-year-old male were found inside the home and taken in for questioning.
Three Charlotte police officers and a member of the Marshal Service Fugitive Task Force were also wounded in the incident.
FCC fines major wireless carriers nearly $200M for sharing data
A 2020 investigation revealed that the carriers had been distributing users’ geolocation details to third parties, including to prisons. T-Mobile and Sprint merged after the investigation began.
Today, we fined the nation’s largest wireless carriers for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without consent & without taking reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure. https://t.co/bv65Fr6Dbl
Despite promising to end these practices in 2018, the FCC said the companies took more than a year to actually stop them.
In a statement, AT&T argued that the order is unjustified and lacks legal and factual basis. The company claimed it was unfairly blamed for another company’s violations and that its efforts to rectify the issue were overlooked.
T-Mobile stated that it stopped sharing data with location-based services through third-party aggregators over five years ago. The carrier emphasized its commitment to protecting customer data but called the FCC’s decision incorrect and the fine excessive.
A Verizon spokesperson expressed the company’s dedication to customer privacy, noting that they terminated the offending party, ended the program, and took steps to prevent similar incidents.
An investigation by our Enforcement Bureau found that carriers sold access to location data to third parties without customer consent and continued to do so without reasonable safeguards despite warning from the FCC.
This regulation, part of the 2021 infrastructure law, aims to save at least 360 lives and prevent 24,000 injuries annually. The decision follows a rise in traffic fatalities post-COVID-19 lockdowns, despite a recent 3.6% drop in road deaths in 2023.
Carmakers claimed that NHTSA rules requiring cars with automatic brakes to completely avoid contact with objects or people at high speeds were impractical.
We have a crisis of roadway deaths in this country—and today we’re taking a major step toward addressing this with our new rule on automatic emergency braking. pic.twitter.com/NRS8WJeA6o
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) April 30, 2024
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that the automatic braking mandate “will save hundreds of lives.”
The new rule also sets performance standards for these systems, requiring them to detect pedestrians in both daylight and at night, and to function effectively at speeds up to 90 mph.
With talks of a merger gaining traction, media giant Paramount has announced Bob Bakish is stepping down as the company’s CEO. In his absence, three Paramount executives will form a committee called “The Office of the CEO” to lead the company.
This committee consists of the presidents of CBS, Paramount Media Networks and Paramount Pictures. Bakish has been with the company for nearly three decades in roles including CEO of Viacom. He will remain with Paramount until October, working as a senior adviser.
U.S. Soccer announced Monday, April 29, the end of its joint bid with the Mexican Football Federation to host the 2027 soccer tournament, despite being one of three finalists as FIFA’s decision is just weeks away.
Instead, the groups will focus their efforts to secure the 2031 Women’s World Cup, saying the two countries will take lessons learned as they prepare to host the 2026 Men’s World Cup along with Canada.
In addition, the U.S. will also host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
This now leaves two remaining bids for the 2027 Women’s World Cup — one from Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
Removing the Confederate statue won’t change Arlington’s complicated history
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to halt the removal of the Confederate memorial scheduled to take place this week at Arlington National Cemetery. Judge Rossie Alston Jr. is waiting to hear more from both parties before he makes a decision about extending the order past Wednesday, Dec. 20.
“The removal will desecrate, damage and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the organization Defend Arlington said in its suit.
Why is the statue being removed?
In 2022, an independent commission recommended to Congress that the statue be taken down as part of an effort to remove Confederate names from military bases and assets. However, the statue wasn’t put there merely to honor the Confederacy.
Why was it erected?
The statue was erected during Reconstruction in an effort to aid reconciliation between the North and South.
When former President William McKinley kicked off his Peace Jubilee in Atlanta, Georgia, after the Spanish-American war, he stated, “In the spirit of fraternity we should share with you in the care of the graves of Confederate soldiers.”
On June 6, 1900, Congress appropriated $2,500 to have Confederate soldiers reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery. Ultimately, more than 400 Confederate soldiers were buried in a designated section called Section 16.
Arlington National Cemetery describes the statue as “a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy” containing “highly sanitized depictions of slavery.” That includes a depiction of an enslaved woman holding a white officer’s infant and an enslaved man following his owner to war.
Arlington’s official historical record also shows the statue and the interment of Confederate soldiers was intended to show the South that America was one nation. Even if this Confederate memorial is removed, reminders of America’s complicated history will remain.
Robert E. Lee’s history at Arlington
Arlington was built on the former property of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. His home remains there to this day as a memorial that honors him for “his role in promoting peace and reunion after the Civil War,” according to the National Park Service.
Lee abandoned the property after Virginia seceded from the Union, and the U.S. government confiscated the estate. An Army general authorized the property for use in military burials, partly hoping to deter Lee from ever returning.
Down the hill from Lee’s old mansion lies Section 27 — the designated resting place for Black people and poor white people from 1864 until 1948, when former President Harry S. Truman desegregated the armed forces with an executive order.
Approximately 5,300 “colored troops” and African American “freedpeople,” as identified by Arlington Cemetery, were buried there.
For these reasons and more, Arlington considers itself to be a microcosm of American history.
Gen Z endorses location sharing, associates it with safety
Most members of Gen Z are concerned enough about their safety that they’re willing to sacrifice their privacy, according to a survey from the location tracking app Life360. The findings show 74% of the generation says the perceived “physical safety and convenience” from location sharing is worth the trade-off.
Studies show that Gen Z, encompassing individuals between the ages of 11 and 26, is a generation marked by heightened anxiety and stress. They have come of age amid a global pandemic, a surge in school shootings, increased social media usage and more.
Life360 reports a doubling of domestic downloads in the last two years. The app has more than 33 million monthly active users in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to the Life360 survey, 94% of Gen Z individuals said their lives benefit from location sharing.
The phenomenon of location sharing, however, isn’t exclusive to young people. Parents also use these apps to gain peace of mind by knowing the whereabouts of their children. In addition to Life360, there are other popular location sharing apps, such as Apple’s Find My and Google’s Family Link.
Location sharing goes beyond ensuring safety; it has also become a means of expressing affection among friends. Nevertheless, location sharing carries interpersonal complexities, depending on the nature of the relationship.
Concerns regarding data privacy and Life360 have emerged in the past. In 2022, The Markup reported that Life360 was selling users’ location data to as many as a dozen data brokers. The company later announced it would be scaling back these practices and establishing partnerships with two firms. One firm now receives specific data on users’ driving behavior, while the other acquires aggregated data analytics.