The lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree in midtown Manhattan has been an annual holiday tradition since 1931. Click through the gallery to learn more.
The annual tradition dates back to 1931, when construction workers building Rockefeller Center erected the tree. It became an annual spectacular starting in 1933, after Rockefeller Center was completed. In 1951, the lighting ceremony was broadcast for the first time on national television.
The country was facing a national energy crisis in 1973, so 25% fewer lights were used to decorate the tree.
A 100-foot-tall tree from Killingworth, Connecticut, displayed in 1999, holds the record as the largest Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center history. Since 2007, after the trees have been taken down, they have been turned into lumber that is donated to Habitat for Humanity.
New York state has contributed the most trees, 34 altogether, while the New York town of Suffern has contributed five trees, the most of any town or city.
Angie and Graig Eichler of Oneonta, New York, donated this year's 94-foot-tall Norway Spruce from their backyard.
