Events in History Relating to Television
December 28, 1895
The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines marking the debut of the cinema.
February 5, 1919
Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists.
October 2, 1925
John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system.
October 30, 1925
John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.
September 5, 1927
The first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Trolley Troubles, produced by Walt Disney, is released by Universal Pictures.
September 7, 1927
The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth.
February 25, 1928
Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.
May 15, 1928
Mickey Mouse premiered in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy
November 18, 1928
Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon stars Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.
December 7, 1930
W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts broadcasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The broadcast also includes the first television commercial in the United States, an advertisement for I.J. Fox Furriers, who sponsored the radio show.
May 27, 1933
The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon The Three Little Pigs, with its hit song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
June 9, 1934
Donald Duck makes his debut in The Wise Little Hen.
February 11, 1938
BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term "robot".
April 30, 1938
The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit.
April 30, 1938
The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End.
July 27, 1940
The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.
January 3, 1947
Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
January 22, 1947
KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California.
September 30, 1947
The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time.
November 6, 1947
Meet The Press makes its television debut (the show went to a weekly schedule on September 12, 1948).
June 8, 1948
Milton Berle hosts the debut of Texaco Star Theater.
June 20, 1948
Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show, makes its television debut.
January 17, 1949
The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.
January 25, 1949
At the Hollywood Athletic Club the first Emmy Awards are presented.
June 24, 1949
The first Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.
December 29, 1949
KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
October 11, 1950
Television: CBS's mechanical color system is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
September 3, 1951
The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its first episode on the CBS network.
January 14, 1952
NBC's long-running morning news program Today debuts, with host Dave Garroway.
September 19, 1952
The United States bars Charlie Chaplin from re-entering the country after a trip to England.
October 7, 1952
"American Bandstand" debuts on a local Philadelphia station.
January 19, 1953
68% of all television sets in the United States are tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
March 2, 1953
The Academy Awards are first broadcast on television by NBC.
May 25, 1953
The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
December 30, 1953
The first ever NTSC color television sets go on sale for about USD at $1,175 each from RCA.
January 1, 1954
NBC makes the first coast-to-coast NTSC color broadcast when it telecast the Tournament of Roses Parade , with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers.
March 9, 1954
McCarthyism: CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly.
July 5, 1954
The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.
September 27, 1954
The nationwide debut of Tonight! (The Tonight Show) hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.
November 19, 1954
Télé Monte Carlo, Europe's oldest private television channel, is launched by Prince Rainier III.
May 9, 1955
Sam and Friends debuts on a local United States television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and The Muppets.
April 2, 1956
As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS-TV. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
February 17, 1958
Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television.
September 12, 1959
Premiere of Bonanza, the first regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color.
November 2, 1959
Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
January 25, 1960
The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records.
December 9, 1960
The first episode of Britain's longest running television soap opera Coronation Street is broadcast.
February 14, 1962
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.
September 1, 1962
Channel Television launches to 54,000 households in the Channel Islands.
September 2, 1963
CBS Evening News becomes U.S. network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
November 23, 1963
The BBC broadcast the first ever episode of Doctor Who starring William Hartnell which would become the world's longest Science-Fiction Drama to date.
February 9, 1964
The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.
April 20, 1964
BBC Two launches with the power cut because of the fire at Battersea Power Station.
June 27, 1966
The first broadcast of Dark Shadows is aired on ABC-TV.
June 25, 1967
First live global satellite television programme – Our World
November 7, 1967
US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
November 19, 1967
The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
October 5, 1969
The first episode of the famous comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus aired on BBC.
November 10, 1969
National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts the children's television program Sesame Street.
March 1, 1975
Colour television transmissions begin in Australia.
September 29, 1975
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station.
October 11, 1975
The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis Ian and Billy Preston as guests.
November 28, 1975
As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, the final two American soap operas that had resisted going to pre-taped broadcasts, air their last live episodes.
November 26, 1977
'Vrillon', claiming to be the representative of the 'Ashtar Galactic Command', takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes at 5:12 PM.
September 7, 1979
The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its debut.
February 15, 1980
Television One and Television Two (formerly South Pacific Television) under the newly formed Television New Zealand goes to air for the first time.
March 21, 1980
On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
March 6, 1981
After 19 years of presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
February 28, 1983
The final episode of M*A*S*H is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source).
December 26, 1986
The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air.
January 22, 1987
Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism.
September 11, 1987
Dan Rather walks off the set of the CBS Evening News over disapproval of the handling of a major event being interrupted and postponed by a sports program, leaving six minutes of dead air.
January 10, 1990
Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
May 22, 1992
After 30 years, 66-year-old Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time.
February 8, 1993
General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.
May 13, 1994
Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.
September 1, 1997
different cable tv companies, Nynex, Videotron, and Bell Cablemedia merge to become a cable tv network called Cable and Wireless, which is now Virgin Media.
October 29, 1998
ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the United States is inaugurated with the launch of STS-95 space shuttle mission.
June 2, 1999
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time.
November 30, 2004
Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with $2,520,700 USD, television's all-time biggest game show haul.
September 1, 2006
Luxembourg became the first country to complete the move to all digital television broadcasting.
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