The Christmas tree set up in Rockefeller Center in New York City is one of the most iconic holiday symbols for all. Each year in mid-November, a tree, usually a Norway spruce, would be erected on the Plaza following a public lighting ceremony in late November.

The 2018 Christmas tree was lit up by more than 50,000 LED lights on November 28th and will keep shining until January 7th. This year, the 22 meters (72 feet) high tree was crowned with a new Swarovski Star which has 3 million crystals and 70 glass spikes. The LED backlights provide the star with a brightness of 106,000 lumens.

(Image: Rockefeller Center)

The Rockefeller Center Christmas is estimated to attract 750,000 visitors this year, according to NYC & Company, the official destination marking organization of New York City.

In 1931, the first Christmas tree was put up by the construction workers of the building in the midst of the Great Depression. They decorated the tree with “strings of cranberries, paper garlands, and a few tin cans,” according to Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, a book of the legendary building. Then in 1933, the Christmas tree tradition officially began.

74 years later in 2007, LED lighting was introduced for lighting up the tree. NYC & Company said, the same LED lights were used for decoration each year since then.