| IMPORTANT DATES IN TELEVISION Source: WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA (1999 ed.) 1929: Vladimir K. Zworykin demonstrated the first practical, all-electronic television system 1936: BBC made the world's first regular telecasts, in the United Kingdom 1948: A television boom began in the United States, resulting in making TV part of most U.S. homes by 1960 1951: The first nationwide telecast in the U.S. showed President Truman opening the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco 1953: Regular color telecasts began 1965: Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite, relayed TV progrmas between the U.S. and Europe 1967: Congress forms the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help direct and finance public TV stations in the U.S. 1969: TV viewers saw the first landing on the moon by astronatus 1977: The miniseries became an ever-popular TV format with the broadcast of ROOTS over eight nights 1989: The first high-defintion television (HDTV) broadcasts began in Japan 1993: The Fox network becomes the first new national network in the U.S. in 50 years by expanding to seven nights a week 1996: The FCC adopted standards for digital and HDTV broadcasts in the U.S. 1997: The largest audience in TV history--2.5 bilion people worldwide--watched the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales; also, the FCC adopts a voluntary rating system for TV programs in the U.S. 1998: HDTV began in the U.S. |