Ticker-tape parade

The term ticker tape originally referred to the use of the paper output of ticker-tape machines, which were remotely driven devices used in brokerages to provide updated stock market quotes.

Soon after the first such parade in 1886, city officials realized the utility of such events and began to hold them on triumphal occasions, such as the return of Theodore Roosevelt from his African safari, Gertrude Ederle swimming the English Channel, and Charles Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight.

The first individual to be honored with a ticker-tape parade was Admiral George Dewey, hero of the battle of Manila Bay, in 1899, when two million people came out to New York City.

The section of lower Broadway through the Financial District that serves as the parade route for these events is colloquially called the "Canyon of Heroes".

[8] By the early 21st century, such parades became far more infrequent, largely limited to championship sports teams, and celebrations of the return of astronauts and military troops.