1925
- October 2
- John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system. [5]
1926
- January 26
- Television first demonstrated (John L Baird, London England). [1]
1927
- April 7
- Telephone lines are used for the first time to transmit a television signal, from Washington DC to New York City. The audience to the demonstration sees an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. [1] [457]
- September 7
- The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth in San Francisco, California, USA. [1] [5] [457]
1928
- January 13
- Ernst F. W. Alexanderson gives the first public demonstration of television at Schenectady, New York, USA, using a perforated scanning disk and high-frequency neon lamps. [457]
- February 8
- First transatlantic TV image received, in Hartsdale, New York, USA. [1]
- Scottish inventor J Blaird demonstrates color-TV. [1] [457]
- May 11
- General Electric opens first TV-station (Schenectady New York). [1]
- July 3
- London, England, sees its first color television broadcast. [5]
- July 12
- First televised tennis match. [1]
- September 11
- First TV drama-WGY's The Queens Messenger. [1]
1929
- May 11
- First regularly scheduled TV broadcasts (3 nights per week). [1]
- June 27
- First color TV demonstration (New York City). [1]
1930
- March 24
- First religious services telecast in US (W2XBS, New York City, New York). [1]
- July 13
- RCA head General Sarnoff reports in the New York Times newspaper that the medium still in experimental mode, "TV would be a theater in every home." [1] [457]
- August 20
- Dumont's first TV broadcast for home reception (New York City). [1]
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- December 7
- In Boston, Massachusetts, the CBS radio orchestra program is broadcast in video and includes the first television commercial in the United States. [5]
1931
- January 22
- VARA begins experimental TV broadcast in Diamantbeurs, Amsterdam. [1]
- February 17
- First telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball). [1]
1932
- August 22
- The British Broadcasting Corporation begins experimental regular TV broadcasts. [1] [5]
- October 11
- First political telecast (Democratic National Committee) at CBS, New York City. [1]
1933
- August 23
- First televised boxing match, between Archie Sexton and Laurie Raiteri in London, England, broadcast by the BBC's experimental TV service. [457]
1936
- June 29
- Empire State Building emanates high definition TV, 343 lines of picture definition. [1] [457]
- July 29
- RCA shows the first real TV program (dancing, film on locomotives). [1]
- November 2
- The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, high-definition (then defined as at least 200 lines) service (renamed BBC1 in 1964). [1] [5]
- November 6
- RCA displays a 343-line television system for the press as part of NBC's tenth anniversary celebration. [1] [457]
- November 12
- The BBC airs the world's first televised gardening show, In Your Garden with Mr. Middleton. [1] [457]
- December 1
- Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for TV use. [1]
1937
- June 21
- The BBC televises coverage of the Wimbledon tennis Championships for the first time. [457]
- December 12
- NBC and RCA sends first mobile-TV vans onto the streets of New York. [1]
1938
- February 17
- First public experimental demonstration of Baird color TV (London, England). [1]
- June 7
- First play telecast with original Broadway cast, Susan and God. [1]
- November 15
- First telecast of an unscheduled event (fire), W2XBT, New York. [1]
- December 20
- Vladimir K Zworykin (Pennsylvania, USA) receives patent on the Iconoscope TV system. [1]
1939
- April 30
- NBC and RCA give first public television demonstration with US President Franklin Roosevelt at opening of New York World's Fair. [1] [457]
- May 17
- First sports telecast-Columbia versus Princeton-college baseball. [1]
- June 1
- First televised heavyweight boxing match, featuring Max Baer vs Lou Nova. [1] [457]
- June 14
- NBC debuts The Ethel Waters Show on television. [457]
- July 25
- TV station W2XBS in New York City presents television's first musical comedy: Topsy and Eva. [457]
- August 26
- The first Major League Baseball game is telecast (W2XBS New York), a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. [1] [5] [457]
- September 30
- First televised college football game (Fordham versus Waynesburg at New York City). [1]
- October 22
- First TV NFL game: Philadelphia Eagles versus Brooklyn Dodgers. [1]
- November 6
- General Electric's WGY-TV (Schenectady, New York), first commercial TV station, begins service. [1] [457]
1940
- February 25
- First televised (W2XBS, New York City) hockey game (New York Rangers versus Montreal Canadiens). [1]
- February 28
- First televised basketball game (college game at New York City's Madison Square Garden-University of Pittsburgh beats Fordham University, 50-37). [1]
- March 2
- First intercollegiate track meet telecast, Madison Square Garden, New York City. [1]
- March 6
- First US telecast from an airplane, New York City, New York. [1]
- March 10
- First US opera telecast, W2XBS, New York City, New York, I Pagliacci. [1]
- April 16
- First televised baseball game, WGN-TV, (Chicago White Sox versus Chicago Cubs exhibition). [1]
- September 3
- First showing of high definition color TV. [1]
1941
- January 9
- Columbia Broadcasting System gives its first demonstration of small-screen color television; the TV failed miserably. [457]
- May 2
- The Federal Communications Commission agrees to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV stations begin on July 1. [1] [457]
- July 1
- First commercial TV licenses granted-W2XBS-WNBT (NBC) and WCBW (CBS), New York City. [1]
- Bulova Watch Co. pays $9 for first ever network TV commercial. [1]
- August 7
- TV station WNBT, Channel 4 in New York City, broadcasts the first audience-participation show, as studio guests play charades. [457]
1942
- June 28
- The world's first commercial TV network began operations (Dumont TV, WABD New York). [1] [457]
1943
- January 3
- First missing persons telecast (New York City, New York). [1]
- December 23
- First telecast of a complete opera (Hansel and Gretel), Schenectady, New York. [1]
1944
- January 1
- First feature-length foreign movie, African Journey, shown on TV, New York City, New York. [1]
- February 21
- The War As It Happens televised news show premieres on NBC (New York City only). [1]
- April 10
- Patrolling the Ether is shown on three TV stations simultaneously. [1]
- September 28
- First TV musical comedy (The Boys from Boise). [1]
1946
- April 20
- First televised baseball broadcast in Chicago, Illinois, Saint Louis Cardinals versus Chicago Cubs. [1]
- May 9
- NBC debuts TV's first hour-long entertainment show, NBC's Hour Glass. [1] [457]
- June 6
- Henry Morgan is first to take off shirt on TV. [1]
- June 19
- First TV sports spectacular-Joe Louis versus Billy Conn. [1]
- October 2
- The Dumont Network debuts the first TV soap opera, Faraway Hill. [1] [457]
- November 7
- A coin-operated television receiver is displayed in New York City. For the cost of a quarter, one could see various test patterns and a model of "Felix the Cat". [457]
- December 18
- TV's first network dramatic serial Faraway Hill ends two-month run. [1]
1947
- January 3
- First opening session of US Congress to be televised. [1]
- January 22
- KTLA TV channel 5 in Los Angeles, California (IND) begins broadcasting (first commercial TV station west of Mississippi). [1] [5] [457]
- February 21
- First broadcast of first US TV soap opera: A Woman to Remember. [1] [457]
- March 12
- The DuMont TV network airs the first Movies For Small Fry children's program. [457]
- May 7
- NBC debuts the live TV show Kraft Television Theater. [1] [457]
- June 16
- First network news - Dumont's News from Washington. [1]
- September 30
- New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers 5-3 in front of largest World Series crowd: 73,365; also first World Series game televised. [1] [5]
- October 5
- First Presidential address televised from White House - Harry Truman. [1]
- October 13
- WBKB-TV premieres the Kukla, Fran, and Ollie 15-minute puppet children's TV show. [1] [179.540] [457]
- November 6
- NBC TV debuts the Meet the Press TV show. [5] [457]
- November 20
- First permanent TV installed on seagoing vessel (The New Jersey). [1]
- December 27
- First Howdy Doody Show (Puppet Playhouse), telecast on NBC. [1]
1948
- January 1
- First color newsreel is filmed, in Pasadena, California, USA. [1]
- January 13
- First country music TV show, Midwestern Hayride, premieres on WLW Cincinnati, Ohio. [1]
- January 18
- The DuMont network premieres TV series The Original Amateur Hour, hosted by Ted Mack. [1] [457]
- February 5
- NBC TV debuts science show The Nature of Things. [1] [457]
- February 16
- NBC-TV presents the first daily newsreel telecast Camel Newsreel Theatre made up of footage from 20th Century Fox - Movietone News. [1] [457]
- March 18
- Philips begin experimental TV broadcasting. [1]
- March 20
- First live televised musical Eugene Ormandy on CBS, followed in 90 minutes by second live televised musical Arturo Toscanini on NBC. [1] [5]
- April 19
- ABC-TV network begins in the US. [1]
- June 8
- The Milton Berle Show premieres on NBC TV. [1]
- June 20
- CBS premieres the Toast of the Town 60-minute variety TV show, hosted by Ed Sullivan. First guests are Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. [5] [179.287] [457]
- July 24
- Looney Tunes character Marvin the Martian makes his first appearance. [5]
- July 30
- Professional wrestling premieres on prime-time network TV (DuMont). [1]
- August 10
- The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) enters network TV at 7 PM (WJZ, New York). [1]
- ABC debuts Allen Funt's Candid Camera TV show. [1] [457]
- August 14
- CBS-TV inaugurates first nightly televised news broadcast, with anchorman Douglas Edwards. [457]
- September 14
- Milton Berle starts his TV career on Texaco Star Theater. [1]
- September 21
- NBC premieres the Texaco Star Theatre 60-minute variety TV show, with host Milton Berle. [179.655] [457]
- October 3
- NFL becomes first sport televised as sport of the week. [1]
- November 7
- CBS airs the anthology TV show Studio One for the first time, airing an adaptation of the mystery play "The Storm". [457]
- November 25
- KING-TV, Seattle, Washington, goes on the air with first Pacific NorthWest telecast. [1]
- November 28
- TV series Hopalong Cassidy debuts in the USA. [1] [457]
- November 29
- The American Midwest TV network begins airing the Kukla, Fran, and Ollie puppet children's TV show. [179.540] [457]
- December 6
- CBS-TV debuts Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts TV show. [457]
1949
- January 3
- Colgate Theatre dramatic anthology series premieres on NBC TV. [1] [457]
- January 10
- CBS TV debuts the Jewish family show The Goldbergs. [1] [457]
- January 12
- US national debut of Chicago-based children's show, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, on NBC-TV. [457]
- CBS-TV begins airing Arthur Godfrey and His Friends on TV. [1] [457]
- January 18
- CBS-TV debuts They Stand Accused courtroom TV drama. [1] [457]
- January 21
- First inaugural parade televised (US President Harry Truman). [1]
- January 25
- In Los Angeles, California, the 1st Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Walter O'Keefe.
- Best Film Made for Television: The Necklace (Your Show Time Series)
- Most Outstanding Television Personality: Shirley Dinsdale
- Most Popular Television Program: Pantomime Quiz - KTLA
- Special Award: Louis McManus for designing the Emmy statuette.
[1] [164]
- January 31
- First daytime soap on TV These Are My Children (NBC in Chicago, Illinois, USA). [1]
- April 21
- The George Foster Peabody Award for Broadcasting is presented to You Bet Your Life star Groucho Marx. [457]
- May 29
- NBC TV begins airing Allen Funt's Candid Camera TV show. [1] [457]
- June 3
- The last episode of comedy variety program The Admiral Broadway Revue is broadcast, after only 7 episodes. [457]
- June 4
- The DuMont TV Network debuts Cavalcade of Stars. [1] [457]
- June 24
- Hopalong Cassidy becomes first TV network western (NBC). [1]
- June 27
- Dumont Television Network debuts Captain Video and His Video Rangers TV show, starring Richard Coogan. [457]
- July 2
- Red Barber's Clubhouse sports show premieres on CBS (later NBC) TV. [1]
- July 10
- First practical rectangular TV tube announced in Toledo, Ohio. Size is 12 by 16 inches, price is US$12. [1] [457]
- August 25
- RCA announced the development of a color TV system compatible with existing black and white. (This later becomes the industry standard for color TV.) [457]
- September 1
- NBC-TV debuts TV show Martin Kane, Private Eye, starring William Gargan. [1] [457]
- September 5
- The Voice of Firestone radio program of classical and semiclassical music is first simulcast on television. [457]
- September 15
- ABC-TV debuts The Lone Ranger TV show, starring Clayton Moore (Lone Ranger) and Jay Silverheels (Tonto). [1] [457]
- October 2
- NBC-TV begins airing TV's first situation comedy, The Aldrich Family. [457]
- October 4
- CBS premieres the Pantomime Quiz 30-minute TV game show. [179.757]
- October 6
- NBC premieres The Ed Wynn Show, a 30-minute comedy variety show. [179.287] [457]
- November 4
- NBC-TV debuts One Man's Family TV show. [1] [457]
- November 12
- NBC begins airing the Kukla, Fran, and Ollie puppet children's TV show. [179.540]
- December 28
- 20th Century Fox announces it will produce TV programs. [1]
- December 29
- First UHF television station operating regular basis (Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA). [1]
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