This is a list of years in television. It lists important events in the history of television, as well as the first broadcasts of many television shows, and launches of some television channels and networks.
1922–1925 1922: Charles Francis Jenkins' first public demonstration of television principles. A set of static photographic pictures is transmitted from Washington, D.C. to the Navy station NOF in Anacostia by telephone wire, and then wirelessly back to Washington; Philo Farnsworth first describes an image dissector tube, which uses cesium to produce images electronically. Farnsworth will not produce a working model until 1927. 1923: Charles Jenkins first demonstrates "true" television with moving images. This time 48-line moving silhouette images are transmitted at 16 frames per second from Washington to Anacostia Navy station; Vladimir Zworykin applies for a patent for an all-electronic television system, the first ancestor of the electric scanning television camera. The patent is not granted until 1938 after significant revisions and patent interference actions. 1924: John Logie Baird demonstrates a semi-mechanical television system with the transmission of moving silhouette images in England; Vladimir Zworykin files a patent application for the kinescope, a television picture receiver tube. 1925: John Logie Baird performs the first public demonstration of his "televisor" at the Selfridges department store on London's Oxford Street; Charles Francis Jenkins achieves the first synchronized transmission of a moving silhouette (shadowgraphs) and sound, using 48 lines, and a mechanical system; Vladimir Zworykin applies for a patent for color television; Zworykin first demonstrates his electric camera tube and receiver for Westinghouse corporation executives, transmitting the still image of an "X"; John Baird achieves the first live television image with tone graduations (not silhouette or duotone images) in his laboratory. Baird brings office boy William Taynton in front of the camera to become the first face televised.
1926–1975 1926: John Logie Baird demonstrates the world's first television system to transmit live moving images with tone graduations, to 40 members of the Royal Institution. 1927: The BBC begins broadcasting as the British Broadcasting Corporation under the Royal Charter. 1928: John Logie Baird's Television Development Company demonstrates their model A, B, and C 'televisors' to the general public. 1929: John Logie Baird begins broadcasting 30-minute-long programmes for his mechanically scanned televisions. 1930: Baird installs a television at 10 Downing Street, London, the British Prime Minister's residence. On July 14, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and his family use it to watch the first-ever British television drama, The Man with the Flower in His Mouth. 1931: Allen B. DuMont perfects long-lasting reliable cathode-ray tubes later used for television reception. TV reaches the Soviet Union and France. 1932: The BBC starts a regular public television broadcasting service in the UK. 1933: The first television revue, Looking In, is broadcast on the BBC. The musical revue featured the Paramount Astoria dancing girls. Broadcast live by the BBC using John Logie Baird's 30-line mechanical television system, part of this performance was recorded onto a 7" aluminum disc using a primitive home recording process called Silvatone. This footage, which runs to just under four minutes, is the oldest surviving recording of broadcast television. 1934: First broadcast of The Three Stooges; Philo Farnsworth demonstrates a non-mechanical television system. The agreement for joint experimental transmissions by the BBC and John Logie Baird's company comes to an end. First 30 Line Mechanical Television Test Transmissions commence in April in Brisbane Australia conducted by Thomas Elliott and Dr. Val McDowall. 1935: First regular scheduled TV broadcasts in Germany by the TV Station Paul Nipkow. The final transmissions of John Logie Baird's 30-line television system are broadcast by the BBC. First TV broadcasts in France on February 13 on Paris PTT Vision. 1936: The 1936 Summer Olympics becomes the first Olympic Games to be broadcast on television. 1937: The BBC Television Service broadcasts the world's first televised Shakespeare play, a thirty-minute version of Twelfth Night, the For the Children programme and the first football match, Arsenal F.C. vs. Arsenal reserves. 1938: DuMont Laboratories manufactures and sells the first all-electronic television sets to the public. Baird gives the first public demonstration of color projection television. The BBC broadcasts the world's first-ever television science fiction (R.U.R.), and television crime series (Telecrime); in one of the lengthiest experimental television broadcasts, the BBC broadcasts a 90-minute version of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Leslie Banks, Constance Cummings, and James Mason. 1939: The BBC suspends its television service owing to the outbreak of the Second World War. The 1939 New York World's Fair was broadcast. Japan is the first Asian country to air television; NBC expands into television; An early televised broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is experimented on NBC. 1940: The American Federal Communications Commission, (FCC), holds public hearings about television 1941: First television advertisements aired. The first official, paid television advertisement was broadcast in the United States on July 1, 1941, over New York station WNBT (now WNBC) before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The announcement was for Bulova watches. CBS expands into television. 1942: FCC terminates all American television broadcasting because of the war; DuMont petitions FCC to resume broadcasting and receives approval. 1943: Hänsel und Gretel is the first complete opera to be broadcast on television, but only in New York; first (experimental) telecast of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Many more telecasts of the story will follow in later years, but until film begins to be used on television, no two of the television versions of the story will have the same casts. An advertisement campaign about forest fires introduces Smokey Bear 1944: First broadcast of At Home, The World in Your Home, and Will You Remember?. 1945: National Broadcasting Company (NBC) begins the first regularly scheduled television network service in the United States. 1946: RCA demonstrates all-electronic color television system, BBC resumed broadcasting through free-to-air BBC Television Service; the DuMont Television Network begins broadcasting. 1947: First broadcast of Howdy Doody, Kraft Television Theatre, Missus Goes a Shopping, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and Meet the Press; the World Series is broadcast live for the first time; the 1947 Tournament of Roses Parade becomes the first televised parade. 1948: First broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show and Texaco Star Theater; ABC expands to television; the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade moves from radio to television on CBS. 1949: First broadcast of The Lone Ranger, Time for Beany, and Mama; 1st Emmy Awards 1950: First broadcast of Come Dancing, You Bet Your Life, Broadway Open House, Andy Pandy, Your Show of Shows, Crusader Rabbit and What's My Line?; Cuba is the first Caribbean country to receive TV; Brazil is the first South American country to receive TV; Nielsen Media Research begins to provide television ratings data; Jack Benny and Burns & Allen move from radio to TV; Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons begin airing on television after previously only being theatrical short films; Bob Hope appears in his first TV special. 1951: The first broadcast of live United States transcontinental television takes place in San Francisco, California during the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference. The first broadcast of I Love Lucy, See It Now, Dragnet, the Hallmark Hall of Fame, Watch Mr. Wizard, Search for Tomorrow, Sua vida me pertence, Love of Life and The Roy Rogers Show; the Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters is first issued. 1952: First broadcast of Today (NBC), Garfield Goose and Friends, I've Got a Secret, Watch with Mother, Adventures of Superman, This Is Your Life, Ding Dong School, Omnibus, and Flower Pot Men; Canada begins its television broadcasts; Hockey Night in Canada and The Guiding Light move from radio to TV; CBC is launched. 1953: The first broadcast of Panorama, Make Room for Daddy, Romper Room, Kōhaku Uta Gassen; ABS-CBN launches in the Philippines; the coronation of Elizabeth II is the first ceremony of its kind to be broadcast on television. The Academy Awards ceremony (the Oscars) is televised for the first time after previously being broadcast by radio, beginning in 1930. NBC begins broadcasting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. TV Guide is founded. The first "TV dinner" is made by C.A. Swanson & Sons. The first color television introduced in the United States of America. The first television introduced in Belgium, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Switzerland, and Northern Ireland. 1954: First broadcast of The Tonight Show, Father Knows Best, Disneyland and Lassie; NTSC video standard for color television is introduced, and National Educational Television (NET) is launched. 1955: First broadcast of Sam and Friends, The Phil Silvers Show, The Honeymooners, The Mickey Mouse Club, Picture Book, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Sooty Show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium, The Benny Hill Show, Gunsmoke, The Woodentops and Captain Kangaroo; ITV launches in the UK; millions of viewers watch the grand opening of Disneyland in California. The first television introduced in Thailand. 1956: First broadcast of The Edge of Night, As the World Turns, The Price Is Right, Playhouse 90, the Eurovision Song Contest and Hancock's Half Hour. The first television introduced in Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, El Salvador, Finland, Georgia, Guam, Iraq, Nicaragua, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, Uruguay and Uzbekistan. 1957: First broadcast of Perry Mason, Have Gun – Will Travel, The Ruff and Reddy Show, Leave It to Beaver, Maverick, Front Page Challenge, Senda prohibida, and Carosello; Steve Allen steps down as the host of The Tonight Show and I Love Lucy goes off the air. 1958: First broadcast of Blue Peter, The Donna Reed Show, 77 Sunset Strip, Moonlight Mask, Naked City, Adventure Time and The Huckleberry Hound Show; Canada completes its transcontinental television network; the quiz show scandals wipe out The $64,000 Question and Twenty-One. The first color television introduced in Cuba. 1959: First broadcast of The Twilight Zone, Telejornal, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, The Untouchables, Rawhide, Okaasan to Issho and Bonanza; The second Grammy Awards ceremony is the first Grammy Awards to be televised and Nigeria is the first Sub-Saharan African country to receive TV. 1960: First broadcast of The Andy Griffith Show, The Shari Lewis Show, The Flintstones, Coronation Street, and The Bugs Bunny Show; American presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live on television. 1961: First broadcast of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Avengers, The Defenders, Top Cat, The Alvin Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Mister Ed, The Morecambe and Wise Show and Car 54, Where Are You?; CTV network launches in Canada. 1962: First broadcast of The Beverly Hillbillies, The Virginian, McHale's Navy, Steptoe and Son, The Jetsons, The Saint, University Challenge, That Was The Week That Was, Animal Magic, Match Game, The Late Late Show (Ireland) and Sábado Gigante; Johnny Carson succeeds Jack Paar as host of The Tonight Show; first satellite television relayed by Telstar.