12/31/25 - Happy New Years Eve!

Wednesday  12/31/25

New Year's Eve

(at least a 5 can be made into a 6 easily! and thank heaven's that we aren't going 2026 to 2027 this year (the 6-7 meme should be dead by next year!))

Celebrate:

Hogmanay - the Scottish New Year celebration. Coinciding with New Year's Eve, it started during ancient pagan times, and may have stemmed from Norse and Gaelic observances—its roots may be in the Winter Solstice and Yule celebrations marked by the Norse, and it may have brought in customs of Samhain, a Gaelic celebration. 

Make Up Your Mind Day

National Champagne Day

No Interruptions Day

One Voice Day

Universal Hour of Peace Day

Unlucky Day

World Peace Meditation Day

–

New Year's Eve and Day Facts:

The iconic ball drop in New York City is a feat of engineering and endurance.

The Weight Gain: The original 1907 ball was made of iron and wood, weighed 700 pounds, and had 100 lightbulbs. The current ball weighs 11,875 pounds (roughly the weight of two elephants) and is covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystals.

In other cites, odd things are dropped

Food & Produce

Many towns choose to honor their local agricultural roots with giant food replicas.

The Idaho® Potato (Boise, ID): A giant, internally lit "GlowTato" is lowered from a crane.

The Big Orange (Miami, FL): A 35-foot neon orange wearing sunglasses climbs the side of the InterContinental Miami.

A MoonPie (Mobile, AL): A 600-pound electric MoonPie—the city’s favorite Mardi Gras "throw"—is lowered from the RSA Tower.

A Giant Peep (Bethlehem, PA): Home to the candy maker Just Born, the city drops a 400-pound yellow marshmallow chick.

A Pickle (Mt. Olive, NC): A 3-foot glowing pickle is lowered into a "pickle tank" at the local pickle company.

A 10-foot Pierogi (Whiting, IN): A giant version of the traditional Polish dumpling marks the countdown.

A Slab of Lebanon Bologna (Lebanon, PA): A 100-pound stick of the local specialty meat is lowered.

-

Animals & Sea Life

Wylie the Walleye (Port Clinton, OH): A 600-pound fiberglass fish is lowered in the "Walleye Capital of the World."

A Giant Sardine (Eastport, ME): An 8-foot blue sardine is lowered, followed by a Maple Leaf to honor their Canadian neighbors across the bay.

Spencer the Opossum (Tallapoosa, GA): A stuffed (taxidermied) opossum is lowered in a wire cage.

A Conch Shell (Key West, FL): A giant conch shell is lowered at Sloppy Joe’s Bar.

-

Quirky & Local Icons

The Red Shoe Drop (Key West, FL): A drag queen named Sushi is lowered inside a giant red high-heeled shoe.

A 6-foot Cowboy Boot (Prescott, AZ): An illuminated boot is lowered from the flagpole of Arizona's oldest saloon.

A 1,250-pound Acorn (Raleigh, NC): Known as the "City of Oaks," Raleigh drops a massive copper and steel acorn.

A Pinecone (Flagstaff, AZ): A 6-foot metal pinecone is lowered at the historic Weatherford Hotel.

A 19-foot Green Chile (Las Cruces, NM): An LED-lit chile pepper descends, often with the crowd choosing whether it should be "red" or "green" for the night.

One year at College we dropped a sock from the ceiling.

–

Every year, about 3,000 pounds of confetti are dropped. Many of these pieces contain handwritten wishes from the "Wishing Wall" in Times Square, meaning someone’s dream for a new car might literally hit you in the face at midnight.

It takes approximately 200 sanitation workers about 12 to 16 hours to clear the 50 to 60 tons of trash left behind (including hats, noisemakers, and thousands of lost sunglasses).

–

Weird Global Traditions

Italy (Naples): A tradition involves throwing old furniture—including toasters and small chairs—out of windows to symbolize "out with the old."

Denmark: People save their old, chipped plates all year just to smash them against the doors of their friends and family. A bigger pile of broken glass means you have more friends and better luck.

Colombia: People who want to travel in the new year will run around the block with an empty suitcase at the stroke of midnight.

Spain: You must eat 12 grapes, one for each chime of the clock. If you don't finish them by the last chime, you're supposedly doomed to a year of bad luck.

(or choak to death and then it doesn’t matter!)

–

Beyoncé has officially reached billionaire status, Forbes reports.

She is the fifth musician to ever hit the milestone, joining her husband, Jay-Z, as well as Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammys history, has had major success in recent years.

Touring pulled in a lot, but Her magament company, hair-care, whiskey, and a clothing line all helped.

--

Looking ahead to 2026, what are some of the big movies?

The Rip - Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are back together for an action thriller.

Send Help - From Sam Raimi with Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien.

The Moment - with Charli XCX playing a fictionalized version of herself.

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte's novel with Margot Robbie.

Later in the year - Sense and Sensibility from Jane Austen

Scream 7 - with original screenwriter Kevin Williamson.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Michael - The biopic of Michael Jackson.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 - Twenty years later with Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.

Summer time brings

The Mandalorian and Grogu

Stephen Spielberg's Disclosure Day

Toy Story 5

Supergirl

Moana (live action)

The Odyssey from Christopher Nolan

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Later in the year

Resident Evil (8)

Practical Magic 2

Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (prequal focusing on Haymitch.

Focker In-Law

Dune: Part Three

Avengers: Doomsday

--

Today's Useless Fact of the Day - The Times Square New Year's celebration originated as a party for The New York Times

The paper moved to the area, originally called Longacre Square, in 1904 and lobbied the city to rename it after the publication. The paper’s publisher, Alfred Ochs, threw a massive all-day party on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the opening of the paper’s headquarters, establishing the location as a destination for the holiday.

--