CNN News: 美國的各州不同的新年傳統(tǒng)

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.

在亞特蘭大,喬治亞州,在新年前夜會有一個巨大的桃子掉落。這是全國的一年一度的傳統(tǒng)。在威斯康星州，會有一個巨大的奶酪降落。

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

在北卡羅來納州，是一個負老降落，或者說是下降。老鼠在一個盒子里面，不會受傷。

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

但是最出名的還是紐約時代廣場。是什么讓這個大大的東西滾動?

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.

在我們有時區(qū)之前，每一個城市都是根據(jù)太陽的東升西落來計量自己的事件。但是這航海者是一耳光問題。因為時間的混亂會在海上花費很長的時間。

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世紀初期，皇家海軍的一個官員建議在海岸上設(shè)立一個可視的物品。所以，他們就在旗桿上放置了一個球，然后，幾分鐘之后(12點之前)，在放置另外一個球。當(dāng)陽光照射到這兩個球之間的時候，航海人員就把時鐘設(shè)定為正午。

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

最后, 自動上弦鐘表鐘和其他新技術(shù)淘汰了這些計量時間的球。

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.

而在數(shù)年之后，遷址到現(xiàn)在的紐約時代廣場。為了進行慶祝，人們就決定在新年前夕舉行聚會。在聚會之前，,紐約人聚集在三一教堂,人們會在空中扔磚頭像五彩紙屑?！都~約時報》最后選擇的煙花。

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.

但是幾年之后，紐約開始禁止煙花展示。之后，為了發(fā)現(xiàn)一個更為安全的方式，《紐約時報》想到了之前海軍時期的時間球。

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，一個有木頭和鋼鐵制成的700英鎊的球，裝飾著125個燈泡，在新年的那一天降落。一個傳統(tǒng)就這樣產(chǎn)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，我們只有在1942年和1943年沒有舉行這個傳統(tǒng)，因為當(dāng)時(第二次世界大戰(zhàn))政府擔(dān)心這個燈光成為襲擊的目標。就利用鳴鐘代替時間球的傳統(tǒng)。