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 |
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 |
| 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 2017–23