General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing its four core automobile brands of Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick. By sales, it was the largest automaker in the United States in 2022, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.
Paul Gardner Allen was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, film producer, and philanthropist. He is best known for co-founding Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which helped spark the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Allen was ranked as the 44th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes in 2018, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death.
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia, after a 2005 move from the Crystal City area of neighboring Arlington, Virginia.
Fantagraphics is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, 31 December. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.
Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2023, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world and is the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine as of 2016. Costco is ranked #11 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Peter Clay Carroll is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from 2001 to 2009, where he won six bowl games and a National Championship in 2004.
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where honors in several categories are presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". The ceremony was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.
Criticism of Microsoft has followed various aspects of its products and business practices. Issues with ease of use, robustness, and security of the company's software are common targets for critics. In the 2000s, a number of malware mishaps targeted security flaws in Windows and other products. Microsoft was also accused of locking vendors and consumers in to their products, and of not following or complying with existing standards in its software. Total cost of ownership comparisons between Linux and Microsoft Windows are a continuous point of debate.
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (NYRE), billed since 2008 as Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, is a New Year's Eve television special broadcast by ABC. The special broadcasts primarily from New York City's Times Square and prominently features coverage of its annual ball drop event hosted by television personality Ryan Seacrest, along with live and pre-recorded musical performances by popular musicians from Times Square and Hollywood. Since 2016–17, the special has regularly included performances and coverage of midnight festivities from other U.S. locations, including New Orleans and San Juan.
The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ball descends down a specially designed flagpole, beginning at 11:59:00 p.m. ET, and resting at midnight to signal the start of the new year. In recent years, the ball drop has been preceded by live entertainment, including performances by musicians. Over 1,000,000 people from all over the world attend.
Ryan John Seacrest is an American media personality, game show host, and producer. Seacrest co-hosted and served as executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and has hosted other media shows including American Idol, American Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. He became co-host and executive producer of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2006, and stayed on as host and executive producer following Clark's death in 2012.
Seattle is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2022 population of 749,256 it is the most populous city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and the 18th most populous city in the United States. The Seattle metropolitan area's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-largest in the United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities.
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began play in 2009 as an MLS expansion team. The Sounders are a phoenix club, replacing the second-division franchise that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL), A-League, and USL First Division (USL-1) from 1994 to 2008, and carrying the same name as the original Sounders franchise that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1983.
New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen is an annual New Year's Eve television special broadcast by CNN and CNN International. It primarily focuses on coverage of the ball drop festivities held in Times Square in New York City while also featuring coverage of events in other areas of the U.S. and around the world.
Anthony James DeSclafani is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds. He played college baseball for the University of Florida. The Toronto Blue Jays selected DeSclafani in the sixth round of the 2011 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2014.
From 1981 through 2014, MTV aired New Year's Eve specials. The special was first held in 1981 as MTV's New Year's Eve Rock N' Roll Ball, which featured a concert from the Hotel Diplomat in mid-Manhattan featuring Bow Wow Wow, Karla DeVito, and David Johansen. For its early editions, the Rock N' Roll Ball was hosted by MTV VJs; the 1986–87 edition would instead be hosted by Joe Piscopo and carry an Ancient Rome theme.
