Sipa USA/Alamy Stock PhotoIconic actress Betty White suffered a stroke six days before her death at the age of 99. Betty White was one of America’s most beloved celebrities. Known for starring in The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, she was a legendary actress and comedian. She also successfully reinvented herself time and time again throughout her long life, winning the hearts of generations around the world. As she approached the age of 100, it seemed like she might be adding “centenarian” to her long list of accomplishments. Sadly, just weeks before her 100th birthday, Betty White suffered a stroke on Christmas Day that would ultimately claim her life six days later, on Dec. 31, 2021. She reportedly had no other illnesses leading up to her death, and while she was physically frail, her agent and friend Jeff Witjas said that she was still “all there” mentally, and “her sense of humor was there.” She died peacefully in her sleep at her Los Angeles home, and the last thing she reportedly said attests to a life that was full of love: “Allen,” the name of her late husband Allen Ludden, who had succumbed to cancer in 1981. Despite her heartbreaking loss, her own lifelong optimism helped turn what would otherwise be considered a tragedy into a celebration of life instead. White also had a remarkably positive view on aging. As she famously wrote in her memoir, If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t), “If one is lucky enough to be blessed with good health, growing older shouldn’t be something to complain about. It’s not a surprise, we knew it was coming — make the most of it.” And make the most of it she did. The Early Life Of Betty White Long before she graced television screens across the nation, Betty Marion White was a young girl living in Oak Park, Illinois. Born on Jan. 17, 1922 to Horace and Tess White, Betty would only spend the first two years of her life in Oak Park, before the family packed their bags and set out for Los Angeles. Here, the young Betty White first dreamed of one day becoming a zookeeper or a park ranger. Then, she fell in love with performing. Throughout her school years, she appeared in various school plays, reflecting once to NPR that the “show biz bug” had already bitten her by the time she graduated high school in 1939. She had to put any plans on hold, however, when the world was plunged into World War II. Before long, White joined the American Women’s Voluntary Services, driving a delivery truck to support the war effort and lifting the spirits of soldiers as best she could. Betty White Ludden TrustBetty White in her American Women’s Voluntary Services uniform. By the time the war ended, White found herself in drastically different circumstances. She was married now, to an Army pilot and chicken farmer named Dick Barker, and living in Ohio, seemingly set to settle into the life of a Midwestern housewife. Just four months into that marriage, though, she apparently realized that it was not the life she wanted. The couple separated, and White revisited her dream of being a performer. Her professional career actually didn’t begin in front of the camera, but behind a microphone. Told she wasn’t photogenic enough for on-camera jobs, Betty White instead began working in radio to get her foot in the door. Nigel Dobinson/Getty ImagesBetty White and Eddie Albert on Hollywood on Television in 1952. It paid off, as by 1949, she was co-hosting the televised talk show Hollywood on Television, which broadcasted live for five and a half hours a day, six days a week. To say it was exhausting would be an understatement, but it also allowed White to sharpen her improvisational skills and comedic timing — assets that would be invaluable for her seven-decade-long career. Career-Defining Roles In The Mary Tyler Moore Show And The Golden Girls While Betty White found some early success producing and starring in the live-action sitcom, Life With Elizabeth, during the early 1950s, it was her career pivot that cemented her as an icon. At the age of 51, White was cast as Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Wikimedia CommonsBetty White as Sue Ann Nivens. Sue Ann Nivens proved that White could play more than just the “girl next door.” She could be sickly sweet or a man-eating viper. The role proved her skills so well, in fact, that she won two Emmys for her performance. Of course, White would later take on another career-defining role: Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls. Portraying a different character, who was sweet yet scatterbrained, White once again struck gold. The chemistry between White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty established the show as a cultural touchstone, even decades after its finale. Betty White was the last of the show’s stars to die, and she spoke about missing her friends. “I’m the last of the old broads,” she said in 2010, “and I miss them very, very much. But [The Golden Girls] was such a great experience. We loved each other, it was that simple.” That same year also saw a massive resurgence of White’s career. As she said, she was the last Golden Girl alive at that point, but it was clear that she was still sharp as ever. And at 88 years old, she witnessed a level of interest in her as an actress that few others had ever experienced. Betty White’s Final Reinvention Betty White’s “third act,” so to speak, began partly due to her memorable appearance in a Super Bowl commercial for Snickers. In the ad, she played a character named “Mike” who looks like an older lady when he’s hungry, but once the character eats a Snickers bar, “Mike” looks like a young man once more. It was part of the brand’s “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign, which was a huge success. Betty White’s memorable Super Bowl commercial. The commercial was so popular that it prompted a Facebook campaign titled, “Betty White to Host SNL (please?),” which garnered signatures from hundreds of thousands of fans. Lorne Michaels listened, and on May 8, 2010, White became the oldest person to ever host Saturday Night Live, a performance that earned her a seventh Emmy Award. “When I first heard about the campaign to get me to host Saturday Night Live, I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time,” she quipped. Betty White’s iconic Saturday Night Live monologue. Her career resurgence wasn’t just a brief flicker, either. It led to a starring role in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland, which ran for six seasons. White was working harder in her 90s than some actors do in their prime. Her energetic demeanor gave the impression that nothing could stop Betty White — except for death. Inside Betty White’s Heartbreaking Death As Betty White’s 100th birthday approached, many were sure that she would be around to celebrate the milestone. People magazine, for instance, was so confident that White would live to reach 100 that it prematurely published a cover celebrating her birthday just a few days before her death. Even White herself seemed confident about her health. Just 11 days before her death, she had recorded a video message for her fans, which was intended to be shared on her 100th birthday. In the clip, she appeared clear-eyed and radiant, saying, “I just want to thank you all for your love and support over the years. Thank you so much — and stick around!” But on Christmas, White suffered a “mild stroke” at her home, as one source told People. Mild or not, it was more than White was able to handle. Six days later, on Dec. 31, 2021, Betty White died in her sleep. ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock PhotoBetty White with her third and last husband, Allen Ludden. “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent and friend Jeff Witjas said. “I will miss her terribly… I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.” Allen Ludden, who was married to Betty White for 18 years, tragically died from stomach cancer in 1981. White never remarried, and as Business Insider reported, Betty White’s assistant had told Carol Burnett shortly after White’s death that the last word out of her mouth was “Allen.” It’s difficult to know for certain if that was true, but given that White had always referred to Ludden as the love of her life, perhaps she truly was ready to reunite with him at the end. One thing that we do know for sure is that Betty White once said she had “no fear or dread of death” and praised her mother’s approach to dying: “She said, ‘We know we have managed to find out almost anything that exists, but nobody knows… what happens at that moment when it’s over.’ And she said, ‘It’s the one secret that we don’t know.’ So whenever we would lose somebody very close and very dear, she would always say, ‘Well, now he knows the secret.’ And it took the curse off of it somehow.” After reading about Betty White’s life and death, read about the death of actor Luke Perry. Or, learn how Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn died. The post ‘I Thought She Would Live Forever’: Inside The Death Of Legendary Actress Betty White appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Sipa USA/Alamy Stock PhotoThe Times Square “Constellation Ball,” which made its debut in November 2025. Every year on New Year’s Eve, millions of eyes around the globe turn to a single rooftop in Midtown Manhattan, watching as a glittering sphere begins its descent down a pole atop One Times Square. The Times Square Ball Drop has become synonymous with ringing in the new year, a tradition so ingrained in American culture that it sometimes feels like it has always been around. Of course, it had to start somewhere and sometime — and many people may be surprised to learn that the celebration has been around for more than a century. First emerging in 1907, the Times Square ball has a fascinating history, evolving from a relatively modest 700-pound iron sphere to a modern technological marvel that weighs 12,350 pounds. It is, in many ways, a symbol of American innovation — and it all started thanks to a newspaper. How The Times Square Ball Drop Began The annual tradition likely wouldn’t exist at all — at least, not in its current form — if not for a man by the name of Adolph Ochs, the owner of The New York Times at the start of the 20th century. In 1904, when the newspaper moved its headquarters to what was then called Longacre Square, the city soon renamed the area to Times Square. Public DomainAdolph Ochs, the former owner of The New York Times, and the man responsible for the Times Square Ball Drop. To celebrate Times Square’s new name and to ring in the upcoming new year, Ochs threw an extravagant party in the area on New Year’s Eve 1904, complete with a massive fireworks display. However, by 1907, the city grew concerned about fire hazards in such a densely packed place and the possibility of debris falling down on the crowds, so fireworks were banned in the area. Ochs, not wanting to stop the party, needed a new spectacle to impress revelers who gathered there. According to historical records from the Times Square Alliance, it was The New York Times’ chief electrician, Walter Palmer, who suggested a “time-ball.” Public DomainOne Times Square during its construction in 1903. It wasn’t an entirely new idea. A “time-ball” was actually an old maritime tradition that involved a ball dropping at a specific moment at observatories to help crews of passing ships keep track of the time. It’s believed that there were 150 public time-balls installed around the world at one point. At Palmer’s suggestion, Ochs took what was once considered practical nautical advice and successfully repurposed it for entertainment. Palmer and a Ukrainian immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr quickly got to work on creating the first-ever Times Square ball for New Year’s Eve. The first ball, made of iron and wood and adorned with 100 lightbulbs, was five feet in diameter and weighed roughly 700 pounds. It made its debut on New Year’s Eve 1907, when it began its descent just before midnight. The crowd watched as the Times Square Ball Drop rang in the new year. Meanwhile, restaurant and hotel workers nearby donned battery-powered top hats, decorated with the numbers “1908,” which were embellished with tiny lightbulbs. The new spectacle and the festive hats created an instant sensation, and soon enough, a new global tradition was born. Every year since then, the tradition has been carried out — except for just two years during World War II, 1942 and 1943, when wartime “dimout” restrictions prevented the ball drop from happening. The Evolution Of The Times Square Ball FacebookAn old version of the Times Square ball, used in 1978. The original Times Square ball served its purpose well until the Roaring Twenties ushered in a need for an upgrade. So, in 1920, a new iteration was introduced. This time, it was made entirely of wrought iron and weighed about 400 pounds, making it a little easier to lower for the men who were assigned that task. (Back then, the ball was lowered by hand.) That iteration served Times Square for 35 years. Then, in 1955, the ball received another update. This time, an aluminum frame replaced the heavier iron, reducing the weight once more. Now weighing just 150 pounds, the new ball was comparatively modern and sleek, and though its design would change, aluminum was the standard for years. SuperStock/Alamy Stock PhotoA crowd of roughly 900,000 people, gathered in Times Square for the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. 1947. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, the ball’s design took some creative turns. The most distinct visual design was used from 1981 to 1988, when the ball was modified to resemble a “Big Apple” to align with the popular “I Love New York” marketing campaign. Red lightbulbs and a striking green stem turned the sphere into a massive glowing fruit, meant to symbolize the city fighting its way back from a tumultuous fiscal crisis. After the memorable apple design was phased out, the traditional white lightbulbs returned, and in 1995, the ball received a striking makeover for the rising computer age: an aluminum skin fitted with glitter, rhinestones, computer controls, and strobes — much of which was done for the benefit of those watching the ball drop on their televisions at home. But a new millennium was on the horizon, and that meant that the ball had to evolve yet again, to keep up with the changing times. The Millennium Ball And Beyond Wikimedia CommonsThe Millennium Ball used to ring in the year 2000. Despite some concerns around the dreaded Y2K, organizers knew that the celebration in Times Square needed to reflect the magnitude of the year 2000. That meant a new ball, reflective of the modern age. A completely new ball was commissioned for the millennium celebration, with a design that married tradition with the cutting-edge technology of the day. A collaboration between Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting, the new ball measured six feet in diameter and weighed about 1,070 pounds. It featured 504 Waterford Crystal triangles, illuminated by halogen lightbulbs. As technology continued to rapidly develop throughout the early 2000s, the ball continued to evolve as well. The 100th celebration of the Times Square Ball Drop in 2007 saw another big leap, this time replacing incandescent and halogen bulbs with LED lighting technology that shined brighter and more colorfully than ever before, all while offering new energy savings. Wikimedia CommonsThe Times Square Ball, seen from above, in 2012. By 2009, the permanent “Big Ball” had debuted, measuring 12 feet in diameter and weighing almost six tons. It was covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles and illuminated by 32,256 Philips Luxeon LED lights, which were capable of creating a dazzling display of countless vibrant colors. Even more recently, ABC News reported that a new ball was introduced in November 2025. Dubbed the Constellation Ball, the latest version measures 12.5 feet in diameter, weighs 12,350 pounds, and features 5,280 handcrafted Waterford crystals and stunning LED lights, while also incorporating new signature sound and interactive capabilities, with an audio system that can create reactive designs based on musical input. It just goes to show that despite the tradition’s more modest origins, the spectacle of the event has never failed to keep up with the times. And while the changes to the ball’s appearance have always stood as a testament to technological advancement, its symbolic meaning has remained the same. For people around the world, the Times Square Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve is a symbolic gesture to acknowledge the passage of time, to celebrate survival and achievement, and to look toward a brighter future. After reading about the history behind the Times Square Ball Drop, see how Times Square has changed over the years with our photo galleries of Times Square at its lowest point and Times Square during its glory days. The post How The Times Square Ball Drop Became One Of The World’s Most Iconic New Year’s Eve Celebrations appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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