CNN News: 美国的各州不同的新年传统

In Atlanta, Georgia, there's a giant peach that drops on New Year's Eve. It's one of many annual traditions nationwide. In Wisconsin, there's a giant cheese drop.

在亚特兰大,乔治亚州,在新年前夜会有一个巨大的桃子掉落。这是全国的一年一度的传统。在威斯康星州，会有一个巨大的奶酪降落。

In North Carolina, a possum drop, or at least a possum lowering. It's in a box. It's not hurt.

在北卡罗来纳州，是一个负老降落，或者说是下降。老鼠在一个盒子里面，不会受伤。

But the famous drop is probably at New York's Times Square. What exactly got this ball rolling?

但是最出名的还是纽约时代广场。是什么让这个大大的东西滚动?

REPORTER: Before we had time zones, each city kept their own time based on the sun. This was a problem for sailors, whose time pieces often got de-calibrated at sea.

在我们有时区之前，每一个城市都是根据太阳的东升西落来计量自己的事件。但是这航海者是一耳光问题。因为时间的混乱会在海上花费很长的时间。

In the early 1800s, an official in the Royal Navy suggested using a visual on shore. So, they put a ball on top of the flag pole, and raised up a second ball a few minutes before 12:00, when light passed between the two, sailors set their clocks to noon.

在19世纪初期，皇家海军的一个官员建议在海岸上设立一个可视的物品。所以，他们就在旗杆上放置了一个球，然后，几分钟之后(12点之前)，在放置另外一个球。当阳光照射到这两个球之间的时候，航海人员就把时钟设定为正午。

Eventually, self winding clocks and other new tech made these time balls unnecessary.

最后, 自动上弦钟表钟和其他新技术淘汰了这些计量时间的球。

Fast forward a few years, "The New York Times" relocates to what is now Times Square. To celebrate, they decided to throw a party on New Year's Eve. Before then, New Yorkers gathered at Trinity Church where people would throw bricks in the air like confetti. So, "The Times" opted for fireworks instead.

而在数年之后，迁址到现在的纽约时代广场。为了进行庆祝，人们就决定在新年前夕举行聚会。在聚会之前，,纽约人聚集在三一教堂,人们会在空中扔砖头像五彩纸屑。《纽约时报》最后选择的烟花。

But a couple of years later, the city banned the display. Tasked with finding an even safer celebration, the newspaper found inspiration in those old naval time balls.

但是几年之后，纽约开始禁止烟花展示。之后，为了发现一个更为安全的方式，《纽约时报》想到了之前海军时期的时间球。

In 1907, a 700-pound ball of wood and iron, outfitted with 125-watt light bulbs is lowered to ring in the New Year. A tradition was born.

1907年，一个有木头和钢铁制成的700英镑的球，装饰着125个灯泡，在新年的那一天降落。一个传统就这样产生。

Since then, we've only gone without the ball twice. That was in 1942, and 1943, when the government was worried the bright lights could be a target during World War II. So, chimes were used instead.

之后，我们只有在1942年和1943年没有举行这个传统，因为当时(第二次世界大战)政府担心这个灯光成为袭击的目标。就利用鸣钟代替时间球的传统。