NEW YORK—It’s been a New York City tradition since 1907: thousands of New Yorkers and tourists pack themselves into Times Square in Manhattan on New Year’s Eve, stand in the cold for hours with no bathrooms, and wait for a huge ball to drop at the stroke of midnight. The city said it would limit the number of people it lets into Times Square to about 15,000 spectators—far fewer than the many tens of thousands of revelers who usually descend on the world-famous square to bask in the lights, hoopla, and shower of confetti during the nation’s marquee New Year’s Eve event. But one doesn’t have to be in New York to witness this; the event is televised every year. But what does anyone really know about the famed ball and the numerals attached to it, which indicate the new year? Here are some facts: Each numeral will stand seven …