Color TV Day is celebrated on June 25 every year. Watching color television is something most of us take for granted these days, but this wasn’t always the case. The first television programs we saw were in black and white, and that was the only way we could watch them.
It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that color television watching became the standard in the United States. It is only fair that color televisions should be celebrated on their unique day, which is Color TV Day. This event commemorates the birth of color television and the role it has played in our culture since its inception.
- 1876 – George Carey Has a Vision for Television. Carey, a Boston civil servant, envisions television systems, submitting plans for a selenium camera that will allow people to “see by electricity.”
- 1897 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, a German scientist, is credited with creating the cathode ray oscilloscope, which serves as a predecessor of the television image tube.
- 1904 – a German patent for a color TV system was mentioned. Later, in 1925, Vladimir K. Zworkykin, a Russian inventor, filed a patent disclosure for an electronic color TV system.
- 1907 – Boris Rosing develops a practical television system that employs C.R.T. and mechanical scanning technology.
- 1928 – The first working color TV system was developed by Scottish inventor, John Logie Baird in 1928.
- 1939 – Most movie fans know Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer” was the first ‘talkie.’ The first color film is a little more obscure. “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With the Wind,” were both released in 1939, are the most well-known color films.
- 1940 – Researchers at CBS invented a color television system in 1940 based on Baird’s 1928 mechanical TV designs.
- 1940 – First demonstrated by CBS to the press in 1940, to the public in January 1950, and adopted as the standard for color TV by the FCC on October 11, 1950,
- 1941 – The world’s first TV commercial, an ad for Bulova watches, aired before a Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies baseball game on July 1, 1941. Lasting only 10 seconds, the ad cost the company a mere $9.
- 1942 – Another early patent for a color TV was granted in 1942 to a young Mexican inventor named Guillermo González Camarena. His patent was for an “improved chromoscopic adapter” using the “Trichromatic” system for color television transmissions.
- 1948 – The first cable services delivered broadcast channels in three states—Oregon, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania — in 1948.
- 1950 – the Zenith Radio Corporation released the first remote control. Connected to the TV set by a bulky cord, the remote could change channels and turn the TV on and off.
- 1951 – CBS made a television program regarded as the first color television broadcast. The program was called Premiere and was an hour-long variety show.
- 1952 – Morning talk shows, of which modern viewers have dozens to choose from, also developed during this golden age of television. The “Today” show, created by Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. and hosted by Dave Garroway, was the first, debuting in 1952.
- 1953 – The RCA Corporation makes television history by putting their revolutionary color system on the air during an edition of NBC’s “Colgate Comedy Hour.”
- 1953 – Color television would remain a bit of a dream until December 1953, when the FCC adopted RCA’s NTSC as the standard color TV technology — still the standard in the United States today.
- 1954 – The first coast-to-coast color television broadcast was made by NBC on January 1, 1954 — a telecast of the Tournament of Roses Parade.
- 1958 – there were about 350,000 color TVs in the US, mainly manufactured by RCA.
- 1958 – The first live television breaking news event was in 1958. On Oct. 23, 1958, one of the deepest coal mines in the world collapsed in Springhill, Nova Scotia. Ninety-three men were trapped below ground, desperately attempting to dig their way out just as rescuers attempted to dig their way in.
- 1960 – The cost of a color TV in 1960 was approximately $1000 and a 12-inch screen. A 21-inch black-and-white TV cost about $300.
- 1961 – September of 1961 was a turning point for the purchases of color television when the Walt Disney show “The Wonderful World of Color” made its debut appearance.
- 1962 – The first cartoon shows in color were in the fall of 1962 – The Flintstones and The Jetsons.
- 1966 – The first television season when all three major networks showed their Prime-time TV lineups in color was the 1966-67 season.
- 1972 – there were more color televisions than black and white TVs in the USA.
- The cost of the first color TV for consumers is expensive! The model was an RCA set with a 15-inch screen which sold for $1.000 (comparable to $7850 today!)
- The production of color TVs was stopped during the Korean War because metals needed for the war which were also needed to produce color TVs was scarce.
- Daytime soap operas were some of the last shows to switch over to color.
- Many early TV shows switched over to color partway through their runs. Lost in Space had three seasons but only seasons 2 and 3 were filmed in color.
- The moon landing tapes have all been lost. NASA employees believe that these original tapes were likely wiped clean and used again, which was standard practice at the time.
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