New Years Eve By The Numbers

New Year’s Eve is all about numbers. Indeed, we spend the entire day counting down the hours until 11 p.m., when we start counting the minutes, which we do until 11:59 p.m., when we start counting the seconds. Suffice it to say, there isn’t another day of the year when more people actually take the time to count.

Of course, the day itself is about the acquisition of a new number. This year, it’s the transfer from 2012 to 2013. But there are so many other numbers at play over the New Year’s holiday, from the amount of celebrants and spectators to the percentage of people who will make a resolution (and how many glasses of champagne they will drink before they honor it).

Here’s a look at New Year’s Eve (and New Year’s Day) by the numbers:

1 Million: The amount of people expected to attend America’s largest New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City’s Times Square. Another 1 billion people from around the world will watch the famed ball drop on TV.

3,200: How much it costs in dollars to get a direct view of the ball drop at the Marriott Marquis’ “Ultimate New Year’s Eve Times Square Party.”

1907: The first year a lighted ball was dropped over Times Square in honor of the New Year.

2: The number of times the ball didn’t drop in Times Square for New Year’s (thanks to lighting restrictions during World War II).

8: The number of years organizers modified the ball to look like a “Big Apple” during the 1980s before thinking better of the idea.

11,875: How many pounds the current 12-foot New Year’s Eve ball weighs. It’s that heavy because it has 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles capable of producing billions of different light patterns.

2,000: How many pounds of confetti organizers will drop on the crowd in Times Square.

33.7: The average degrees Fahrenheit at 12 a.m. on Jan. 1 in New York City.

44: The percent of American adults that say they will kiss someone at the stroke of midnight.

45: The percent of American adults that say they will make a New Year’s resolution. Of those, just 46 percent are expected to keep their resolutions six months later.

22: The percent of people that will be fast asleep before midnight.

360 million: How many glasses of sparkling wine will be served during the holiday season.

25: The percentage of all Champagne bottles sold in the U.S. that will be purchased in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Each bottle will have about 49 million bubbles inside and should be held at a 45-degree angle before popping.

10,000: The number of costumed revelers that will march in Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade, the United States’ oldest folk festival dating back to the mid-17th century.

1890: The first time residents of Pasadena, Calif., held the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade.

18 million: The estimated number of flowers used in the 42 floats created for the parade, which 39 million Americans are expected to watch on TV.