Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Kim. Today is Monday, December 31st, New Year's Eve, 2018.

And we begin in New York City where party goers are already gathering for tonight's big ball drop in Times Square.

Forecasters are predicting a crowd of more than a million and temps in the 40s,

which is downright balmy compared to last year.

At 1159 p.m. to the countdown of the crowd

the ball will begin its 141 foot descent

ticking away the final seconds of 2018 and ushering in a brand new year.

The ball has been lowered every year in Times Square since 1907,

with the exceptions of 1942 and

1943, when the ceremony was suspended because we were in the middle of

World War II and the city ordered its lights dimmed to keep the enemy from recognizing the skyline.

All told there have been seven different versions of the ball.

Tonight's is 12 feet in diameter, covered with 2,68

waterford crystal triangles, and weighing a whopping 11,875 pounds.

When the ball drops and the clock strikes midnight, the crowd will break out in a rendition of the traditional

song All Lang-Zine, which means for the sake of old times.

The song dates back to 1788 when it was published by Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Over 220 years later, his poem is still the most popular way to say goodbye to the past year.

And while we watch balls drop, sing ald Lang Zion and shoot off fireworks, other countries have

their own way of ushering in a brand new year.

In Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, partiers wear special underwear tonight.

The most popular colors are red to bring love and yellow to bring wealth.

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