Quiz Monkey
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Quiz Monkey |
| Swedish scientist Jons Jacob Berzelius discovers selenium, a metalloid that conducts electricity |
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1817 |
| Irish telegraph operator Joseph May accidentally discovers the photosensitive properties of selenium (it's a better conductor in the light than in the dark) |
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1873 |
| German student Paul Nipkow proposes and patents the first (electromechanical) TV system (he never built a working model) |
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1884 |
| German inventor Karl Braun introduces the cathode ray tube for commercial use |
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1897 |
| Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi coins the word television, in a paper read in Paris |
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25 August 1900 |
| Dr. John Ambrose Fleming patents the two–diode thermionic valve |
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16 November 1904 |
| John Logie Baird decides to build an apparatus based on Nipkow's theory |
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1918 |
| Baird visits Victor Mills, a Hastings schoolboy who had built a sophisticated wireless set; Mills subsequently worked with Baird, and would claim 55 years later that the first television image was of his hand |
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February 1923 |
| Baird advertises in The Times for finance to develop "SEEING by WIRELESS" |
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27 June 1923 |
| Baird patents a system of transmitting pictures by telegraphy |
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26 July 1923 |
| Baird demonstrates "silhouette television" at Selfridge's, Oxford St., London |
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25 March 1925 |
| Baird privately transmits live moving greyscale images (5 frames/second) |
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2 October 1925 |
| Baird gives the first public demonstration of televised moving images (12.5 fps) |
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26 January 1926 |
| The first regularly scheduled TV service begins in Washington DC |
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2 July 1928 |
| Baird transmits the first live sports coverage (The Derby) |
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1931 |
| Official BBC service – the world's first "high–definition" service – begins; covered by the broadcast receiving licence |
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2 November 1936 |
| Wimbledon televised for the first time |
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1937 |
| The first (BBC) TV news bulletin |
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1938 |
| Boat Race, FA Cup Final and the Trooping of the Colour televised for the first time | ||
| Television licences (including radio licence) issued in the UK for the first time, on resumption of the service after World War II |
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1 June 1946 |
| The first television weather forecast (presented by George Cowling) |
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11 January 1954 |
| Commercial television (ITV) starts in the UK |
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1955 |
| Eurovision Song Contest first broadcast |
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1956 |
| The Sky at Night first broadcast (presented by Patrick Moore; his last episode as presenter was broadcast on 7 January 2013 — 29 days after his death — making it the world's longest–running TV programme with the same presenter) |
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24 April 1957 |
| The Queen's Christmas speech first televised |
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1957 |
| Blue Peter first broadcast |
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1958 |
| Coronation Street first broadcast |
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1960 |
| Grand National first televised (by the BBC) |
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1960 |
| First episode of Doctor Who |
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23 November 1963 |
| BBC2 launched |
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21 April 1964 |
| Cigarette advertising banned from British television |
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1965 |
| Britain's first colour broadcast (BBC2) |
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1 July 1967 |
| Parliament (House of Lords) televised for the first time, in a three–day experiment |
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1968 |
| Monty Python's Flying Circus first broadcast |
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1969 |
| Princess Anne's wedding to Mark Phillips is the first royal wedding to be broadcast in colour |
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14 November 1973 |
| Barbara Edwards becomes the first woman to present the weather forecast on BBC television |
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January 1974 |
| CNN – the first 24–hour news channel – opens |
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1 June 1980 |
Children in Need broadcast (by the BBC) for the first time
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1 November 1980 |
| Channel 4 launched |
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October 1982 |
| BBC Breakfast Time starts |
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17 January 1983 |
| TV–am launched |
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1 February 1983 |
| Regular television broadcasts from the House of Lords begin (initially as an experiment, made permanent soon afterwards) |
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23 January 1985 |
| First episode of EastEnders |
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19 February 1985 |
| Red Nose Day broadcast (by the BBC) for the first time
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8 February 1988 |
| Proceedings in the House of Commons televised for the first time |
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21 November 1989 |
| Noel Edmonds presents the first National Lottery draw |
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19 November 1994 |
| Channel 5 (rebranded in 2002 as Five) starts |
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1997 |
| CBBC and CBeebies (the latter for children of 6 and under) launched as separate channels |
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2002 |
| BBC3 launched |
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9 February 2003 |
| BBC4 launched |
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March 2003 |
| BBC3 "linear channel" closed |
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16 February 2016 |
| Number of lines to the picture, in the original BBC television service (the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting) |
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405 |
| Number of lines in BBC2 broadcasts from its introduction in 1964, on BBC1 from 1969, and in the ITV regions in 1969 and 1970 (an international standard first introduced in 1946 in the USSR) |
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625 |
| The first TV programme broadcast from Alexandra Palace (daily from 26 August to 5 September 1936) – a variety programme. |
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Here's Looking at You! |
| Product featured in the first advertisement on British TV |
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Gibbs SR toothpaste |
| First programme broadcast on BBC2 (1964 – the previous evening's programmes had been cancelled owing to a power cut) |
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Play School |
| International awards festival for television entertainment, founded by Eurovision in 1961 and held annually in the Swiss resort of Montreux until 2003 (held in Lucerne 2004–12, then moved annually: Brussels 2013, Berlin 2014, London 2015) |
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Rose d'Or (Golden Rose) |
| Victim of the first murder shown live on TV (24 November 1963) |
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Lee Harvey Oswald |
| The BBC's teletext system – and the world's first; began in 1974, replaced in 2012 by the BBC Red Button |
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Ceefax |
| ITV's teletext system, launched soon after the above in 1974: replaced in 1993 by a similar service provided by Teletext Ltd (which advertises holidays and cars). Said to stand for Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics |
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Oracle |
| Held the midweek franchise for London and (parts of) the Home Counties, 1968–92; logo featured a view of St. Paul's Cathedral |
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Thames |
| Took over the Thames TV franchise in 1993; David Cameron was its Director of Corporate Affairs, 1994–2001;
merged with Granada in 2004 to form ITV plc, which (as of 2021) owns 13 of the 15 UK regional channels (all except two in Scotland)
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Carlton |
| Essex–born founder of Granada Television (1954) – described by the British Film Institute as the "dominant influence on the growth and development of commercial television in Britain" |
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Sidney Bernstein |
| Glasgow–born founding Chief Executive of Channel 4 (having started his career as a producer with Granada in 1958) |
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Jeremy Isaacs |
| Product featured in the first colour advertisement on British TV (1969) |
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Bird's Eye peas |
| The first product advertised on Channel 5 |
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Chanel No. 5 |
| The world's longest running children's TV programme (first shown in 1958) |
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Blue Peter |
| Dutch–based production company founded by Jon de Mol, responsible for Big Brother (introduced 1999) and Deal or No Deal (2000) – claims to be the world's biggest independent television production company |
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Endemol |
| UKTV G2 (UK Gold 2) renamed (October 2007), adopting the slogan "the home of witty banter" |
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Dave |
| Australian–born composer of the theme tunes to Dr. Who, Steptoe & Son, Tales of the Unexpected, The Prisoner, among many others (died 1981 aged 58) |
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Ron Grainer |
© Haydn Thompson 2017–25