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The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company
1851 - The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company is founded in Rochester, New York, which will become Western Union -- the first electronic message service (also offering the service of delivered Telegrams.) -
Alexander Graham Bell issued a patent for the Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell issued a patent for the Telephone on March 7th. By the early 1800's many experimental uses were attempted for this invention including what was later called "Audio Theatre" -- plays and readings performed over the telephone. -
"After the Ball"
The first "million-seller" song hit (sold via sheet music) was "After The Ball" by Charles K. Harris, who was both its composer and publisher. -
The Lumiere Brothers
The Lumiere Brothers use (piano) music with a motion picture program (of short subjects) for the first time at a Dec. 28th -screening at the Grand Café in Paris -
First time silent motion picture
An orchestra is used with (silent) motion pictures for the first time in April in London -
Shellac gramophone disks developed by Emile Berliner
Shellac gramophone disks developed by Emile Berliner - speeds will vary on discs issued by companies in different countries (80 rpm was used on some British recordings) -
Joseph John Thompson discovers the electron
British scientist Joseph John Thompson discovers the electron particle within cathode rays -
John Ambrose Fleming creates valve
British scientist John Ambrose Fleming develops the first vacuum tube called a "Valve." -
C. G. Hensley
AT&T engineer C. G. Hensley got the idea for the loudspeaker when he thought about what would happen if he made a telephone receiver really big. -
Western Union introduces teletypewriters,
Western Union introduces teletypewriters, joining branches and individual companies. -
"Orange network" debuts April 5, 1927
The NBC Pacific Coast "Orange network" debuts April 5, 1927 with its flagship station KGO in San Francisco. -
"Columbia Broadcasting System" begins radio broadcasting
CBS - the "Columbia Broadcasting System" begins radio broadcasting on Sept. 18 formed by the demise of the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System, a chain of some 16 stations which originated out of WOR -- Newark, New Jersey; The stock was sold to the fledgling United Independent Broadcasters, Inc.; a year later WABC in New York replaced WOR as the headquarters of the network; WABC was finally re-named WCBS to avoid confusion -
Milton Berle is the first person to be seen on television
In the United States, a young comedian named Milton Berle is the first person to be seen on television, on an experimental broadcast; But it would be another 20 years before his network TV show for Texaco would result in him becoming known throughout the country as "Mr. Television." -
RCA convinces phonograph labels
RCA convinces phonograph labels including its own Victor label as well as Columbia and other manufacturers to standardize on 78.26 rpm as the speed of all phonograph records. Previous disk recording speeds might vary anywhere up to 80rpm in the U.S. and even as high as 90rpm in England. -
Billboard magazine
Billboard magazine publishes its first music chart of performed songs. -
Scotsman John Logie Baird demonstrates his system of mechanical television
Scotsman John Logie Baird demonstrates his system of mechanical television, transmitting its signal from England to the United States over the Atlantic ocean. -
The Edison Co.
The Edison Co. ceases the manufacturing of sound recordings. -
"Don Lee" chain of radio stations joins the CBS radio network
The West Coast "Don Lee" chain of radio stations joins the CBS radio network; it was to later switch to Mutual in 1936. -
Philo Farnsworth transmits the first TV picture
Philo Farnsworth transmits the first TV picture of a living person - his wife - on Oct. 19, in his San Francisco laboratory; the picture is only about 3 1/2 inches square. -
Fritz Schroeter applies for a patent on interlaced scanning
To improve TV pictures, German scientist Fritz Schroeter applies for a patent on interlaced scanning. -
first chart of top-selling records
Billboard magazine publishes its first chart of top-selling records. -
Electronic television demonstrated at the Chicago Worlds Fair
Electronic television demonstrated at the Chicago Worlds Fair by RCA / NBC; the number of horizontal scan lines of early electronic TV systems varied from 500 to 750 with DuMont systems having the highest resolution around 750. -
American Broadcasting Network officially begins
The American Broadcasting Network officially begins on June 14 -- when it takes over the NBC Radio "Blue" Network. Announcements for awhile identified it as the "Blue Network of the American Broadcasting Company" or the "American Blue Network." -
Bell Laboratories assembles the world's first transistor (a "point contact" type
Dec 16 - Bell Laboratories assembles the world's first transistor (a "point contact" type so-called because two pointed metal contacts pressed the surface of a semiconductor.) -
The FCC approves regularly-scheduled commercial
The FCC approves regularly-scheduled commercial television broadcasting, following the wartime "interruption", on seven East Coast television stations. -
Dr.Peter Goldmark of Columbia Records
The commercial 33 1/3 LP (Long Playing) microgroove (1-mil) disc is introduced by Dr.Peter Goldmark of Columbia Records; the first LP disk is released; it is 10" Columbia record #4001 performed by classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin. -
The AES
The Audio Engineering Society (The AES) is formed. -
Victor responds to the LP
RCA Victor responds to the LP by developing large-hole 45 rpm phonograph records; Although the effort failed to kill LPs, RCA's 45s eventually had the unintended consequence of replacing 78s as the preferred media format for singles. -
Los Angeles filmed TV sitcom
A local Los Angeles filmed TV sitcom which will air in 1950 on the full NBC network called "Hank McCune Hall", about the life of a television variety show host, introduces the technique of "the laugh track" -- "canned laughter" -- edited in from other comedy shows, which unfortunately continues to plague sitcoms to this day... -
The NBC-TV series "Hank McCune Hall"
The NBC-TV series "Hank McCune Hall" used laugh tracks from other shows on its soundtrack since it was filmed without a studio audience, and the era of "canned laughter" began; later that year a CBS-TV engineer named Charlie Douglas made a device that could produce a "laugh track" using multiple tape loops, which could be played like a "laugh organ", and began a company to supply this service to producers. -
first color TV program
CBS television broadcast the first color TV program to five cities on June 25th; the CBS color system was not compatible with black & white signals as was the RCA system developed for NBC, which eventually was approved for use throughout the U.S in 1953. -
The "CBS Eye" network logo debuts
The "CBS Eye" network logo debuts on September 10, 1951, designed by network art director William Golden. An animated version debuted on the air on October 17th. -
TV is a reality via telephone company
Coast-to-coast network TV is a reality via telephone company coaxial cables -
The First public RCA
The First public RCA "compatible-color" TV broadcast was an episode of NBC's "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" on August 30th; The first regularly scheduled prime-time series in RCA compatible color was on Nov. 22nd (NBC's "Colgate Comedy Hour".) -
first color television sets rolled out of the RCA
On March 25, the first color television sets rolled out of the RCA Victor factory in Bloomington, Indiana; (The model CT-100 had a 12-inch screen, and a suggested retail price of $1000. A total of 5,000 model CT-100 sets were made.) -
Larger 12" LP's overtake 10"
Larger 12" LP's overtake 10" LP's as the preferred size for long-playing records. -
NBC debuts a weekend radio network format
NBC debuts a weekend radio network format called MONITOR on Sunday, June 12th, a creation of Pat Weaver, who also created NBC's Today and Tonight Shows. -
The "NBC Peacock" logo
The "NBC Peacock" logo (symbol of compatible "Living Color") debuts in July, designed by Fred Knapp and the NBC graphics department under John J. Graham. -
Sony introduces the first "solid-state" TV
Sony introduces the first "solid-state" TV set, using transistors instead of vacuum tubes. -
FM Stereo broadcasting
FM Stereo radio broadcasting begins and FM slowly starts to gain respect. -
Multitrack analog tape recording starts
Multitrack analog tape recording starts being used in recording studios. -
Compact stereo
Compact stereo tape cassettes and players are developed by Phillips. -
Ivan Sutherland does his M.I.T. Doctoral Thesis
Ivan Sutherland does his M.I.T. Doctoral Thesis on Interactive Computer Graphics creating a "Sketchpad" program using an interactive light pen instead of a mouse; which leads to the first practical uses of interactive graphics on computers. -
Douglas C. Engelbart demonstrates
Douglas C. Engelbart demonstrates the first computer mouse (made of wood.) -
8-track stereo tape cartridge is developed
The 8-track stereo tape cartridge is developed for automobile use by Lear -
A T & T introduces the PicturePhone
A T & T introduces the PicturePhone at the Worlds' Fair, but it doesn't catch on -
The "Dolby-A" professional noise reduction system
The "Dolby-A" professional noise reduction system is used in some recording studios -
Dolby B
The "Dolby-B" noise reduction system is introduced for consumer reel-to-reel and cassette tape recorders. -
The FCC requires cable TV systems
The FCC requires cable TV systems with more than 3500 subscribers to include locally-originated programming
