New Year’s Repost: Watching the Ball Drop — the Nautical Origins of a New Year’s Tradition

Last night in New York City, people watched, primarily on-line or on television, as a jeweled ball dropped in Times Square at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year, 2021. In past years, the crowd in Times … Continue reading

Happy New Year! Go Jump in the Sea — Scheveningen New Year’s Dive

Happy New Year! Every year for more than the last fifty years, brave or foolhardy Dutch men, women, and children have been celebrating New Year’s Day by jumping into the sea. Called the ‘Nieuwjaarsduik‘ (New Year’s dive), an estimated 25,000 or … Continue reading

A New Year Welcomed by Steam Whistles in Brooklyn – Chief Engineer Conrad Milster and his Passion for Steam

While hundreds of thousands shiver waiting for the ball to drop in TImes Square, a few miles away at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, a small but likely warmer crowd gathers to hear Chief Engineer Conrad Mister blow his collection … Continue reading