Year |
Event |
1873 |
Willoughby Smith discovers the photoconductivity of the element selenium. This resulted in the invention of the photoelectric cell. |
1877 |
George R. Carey of Boston, Massachusetts creates a selenium telectroscope—a camera that could project a moving image to a distant point. The telectroscope was the first television prototype. |
1880 |
Proposals to transmit images by rapidly scanning them in succession are made independently by William E. Sawyer of the United States and Maurice Leblanc of France. |
1884 |
Paul Nipkow invents the Nipkow disk, a means of scanning an image mechanically. This method was later used for mechanical television experiments. |
1895 |
Noah S. Amstutz demonstrates the transmission of photographic halftone images by electric telegraphy.[1] |
1897 |
Karl Ferdinand Braun invents the cathode ray tube, using it as an oscilloscope. |
1900 |
The word "television" is coined by Constantin Perskyi on August 18 at the First International Electricity Congress in Paris, France. |
1907 |
Boris Rosing transmits silhouette images of geometric shapes, using a Nipkow disc, mirror-drum, and a cathode-ray tube receiver. |
1908 |
In his letter to Nature, Alan Campbell-Swinton describes the modern electronic camera and display system which others are to develop throughout the 1920s. |
1921 |
Charles Francis Jenkins with a group of friends incorporates Jenkins Laboratories in Washington, D.C. with the purpose of "developing radio movies to be broadcast for entertainment in the home". |
1922 |
Charles Jenkins' first public demonstration of television principles. A set of static photographic pictures was transmitted from Washington, D.C. to the Navy station NOF in Anacostia by telephone wire, and then wirelessly back to Washington. |
1922 |
Philo Farnsworth first describes an image dissector tube, which uses cesium to produce images electronically, but 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. |
1923 |
Vladimir Zworykin applies for patent for an all-electronic television system, the first ancestor of the electric scanning television camera. The patent was 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. |
1924 |
Vladimir Zworykin files a patent application for the kinescope, a television picture receiver tube. |
Date |
Name |
Occupation/Accolades |
August 22, 1867 |
Charles Francis Jenkins |
U.S. inventor and promoter of mechanical scanning television (died 1934). |
April 23, 1869 |
Boris Rosing |
Russian pioneer of television technology (died 1933). |
November 22, 1875 |
Elizabeth Patterson |
U.S. actress (I Love Lucy) (died 1966). |
July 21, 1882 |
Dr. Herbert Ives |
U.S. television researcher, leader of the AT&T television research during the 1920s–1930s (died 1953). |
February 8, 1884 |
Burt Mustin |
U.S. actor (All in the Family) (died 1977). |
January 16, 1886 |
John Hamilton |
U.S. actor (Adventures of Superman) (died 1958). |
February 26, 1887 |
William Frawley |
U.S. actor (I Love Lucy), (My Three Sons) (died 1966). |
August 14, 1888 |
John Logie Baird |
British pioneer of television technology (d. 1946). |
July 20, 1889 |
John Reith, 1st Baron Reith |
First Director-General of the BBC (d. 1971). |
July 30, 1889 |
Vladimir Zworykin |
U.S. pioneer of television technology (died 1982). |
January 26, 1892 |
Zara Cully |
U.S. actress (The Jeffersons) (died 1978). |
February 11, 1894 |
Jack Benny |
U.S. actor (The Jack Benny Program) (died 1974). |
August 21, 1895 |
Blossom Rock |
U.S. actress (The Addams Family) (died 1978). |
October 4, 1900 |
Robert Shayne |
U.S. actor (Adventures of Superman) (died 1992). |
December 6, 1900 |
Agnes Moorehead |
U.S. actress (Bewitched) (died 1974). |
March 27, 1901 |
Carl Barks |
U.S. animator (creator of Scrooge McDuck) (died 2000). |
July 1, 1901 |
Irna Phillips |
U.S. writer (creator of early soap opera) (died 1973). |
July 14, 1901 |
George Tobias |
U.S. actor (Bewitched) (died 1980). |
October 17, 1902 |
Irene Ryan |
U.S. actress (The Beverly Hillbillies) (died 1973). |
December 25, 1902 |
Barton MacLane |
U.S. actor (I Dream of Jeannie) (died 1969). |
May 29, 1903 |
Bob Hope |
British-American movie, television, radio, and vaudeville actor, writer, and producer (Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre) (died 2003). |
June 17, 1904 |
Ralph Bellamy |
U.S. stage, movie, and television actor (Man Against Crime) (died 1991). |
January 26, 1905 |
Charles Lane |
U.S. actor (Petticoat Junction). (died 2007) |
September 18, 1905 |
Eddie Anderson |
U.S. actor (The Jack Benny Program) (died 1977). |
February 20, 1906 |
Gale Gordon |
U.S. actor (The Lucy Show) (died 1995). |
April 4, 1906 |
Bea Benaderet |
U.S. actress (The Flintstones) (died 1968). |
April 4, 1906 |
John Cameron Swayze |
U.S. anchorman (Camel News Caravan) (died 1995). |
April 22, 1906 |
Eddie Albert |
U.S. actor (Green Acres, Switch) (died 2005). |
August 19, 1906 |
Philo Farnsworth |
U.S. inventor credited with the invention of the cathode ray tube television (d. 1971). |
February 12, 1907 |
Joseph Kearns |
U.S. actor (Dennis the Menace) (died 1962). |
May 22, 1907 |
Cecil McGivern |
British broadcasting executive; controller of BBC Television from 1950 to 1957 (d. 1963). |
January 8, 1908 |
William Hartnell |
British actor; the original star of Doctor Who in the 1960s (died 1975). |
February 28, 1908 |
Billie Bird |
U.S. radio, film, television, and vaudeville actress (Dear John) (died 2002). |
April 2, 1908 |
Buddy Ebsen |
U.S. actor (The Beverly Hillbillies) (died 2003). |
April 30, 1908 |
Eve Arden |
U.S. actress (Our Miss Brooks) (died 1990). |
July 12, 1908 |
Milton Berle |
U.S. actor (Texaco Star Theater) (died 2002). |
December 14, 1908 |
Morey Amsterdam |
U.S. actor (The Dick Van Dyke Show). (died 1996) |
July 26, 1909 |
Vivian Vance |
U.S. actress (I Love Lucy) (died 1979). |
May 15, 1910 |
Michael Barry |
British television producer and executive; Head of Drama at BBC television from 1952 to 1962 (died 1988). |
May 22, 1910 |
Johnny Olson |
U.S. radio and television announcer (The New Price Is Right) (died 1985). |
October 23, 1910 |
Hayden Rorke |
U.S. actor (I Dream of Jeannie) (died 1987). |
February 6, 1911 |
Ronald Reagan |
U.S. actor and president (General Electric Theater) (died 2004). |
March 13, 1911 |
Marie Rudisill |
U.S. television personality (The Fruitcake Lady from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno). (died 2006) |
July 7, 1911 |
Gretchen Franklin |
British actress (EastEnders) (died 2005). |
August 6, 1911 |
Lucille Ball |
U.S. actress (I Love Lucy) (died 1989). |
October 23, 1911 |
Martha Rountree |
U.S. broadcast journalist (Meet the Press) (died 1999). |
December 10, 1911 |
Chet Huntley |
U.S. anchorman (The Huntley-Brinkley Report) (died 1974). |
January 7, 1912 |
Charles Addams |
U.S. cartoonist (created The Addams Family) (died 1988). |
November 23, 1912 |
George O'Hanlon |
U.S. film and voice actor (voice of George Jetson on The Jetsons (died 1989). |
January 28, 1913 |
Maurice Gosfield |
U.S. actor (The Phil Silvers Show) (died 1964). |
February 25, 1913 |
Jim Backus |
U.S. actor (Gilligan's Island, Mr. Magoo) (died 1989). |
May 13, 1913 |
Jasmine Bligh |
British presenter; one of the very first BBC Television Service presenters of the 1930s (died 1991). |
May 25, 1913 |
Richard Dimbleby |
British journalist (BBC), commentator on state events, and presenter of current affairs programmes such as Panorama (died 1965). |
July 13, 1913 |
Dave Garroway |
U.S. journalist (The Today Show (died 1982). |
January 5, 1914 |
George Reeves |
U.S. actor (Adventures of Superman) (died 1959). |
March 15, 1914 |
Joe E. Ross |
U.S. actor (The Phil Silvers Show, Car 54, Where Are You?) (died 1982). |
May 12, 1914 |
Howard K. Smith |
U.S. anchorman (ABC Evening News) (died 2002). |
September 18, 1914 |
Harry Townes |
U.S. actor (The Fugitive) (died 2001). |
October 26, 1914 |
Jackie Coogan |
U.S. actor (The Addams Family) (died 1984). |
October 30, 1914 |
Anna Wing |
U.K. actress (EastEnders) (died 2013). |
December 2, 1914 |
Ray Walston |
U.S. actor (My Favorite Martian, Fast Times) (died 2001). |
January 31, 1915 |
Garry Moore |
U.S. game series host and television personality (I've Got a Secret). (died 1993) |
February 1, 1915 |
Art Balinger |
U.S. actor (Dragnet 1967, Adam-12). (died 2011) |
February 12, 1915 |
Lorne Greene |
U.S. actor (Bonanza). (died 1987) |
April 10, 1915 |
Harry Morgan |
U.S. actor (Dragnet, M*A*S*H) (died 2011). |
September 12, 1915 |
Frank McGee |
U.S. journalist (The Today Show) (died 1974). |
Date |
Name |
Occupation/Accolades |
February 14, 1916 |
Edward Platt |
U.S. actor (Get Smart) (died 1974). |
March 6, 1916 |
Virginia Gregg |
U.S. actress (Calvin and the Colonel, Dragnet) (died 1986). |
March 31, 1916 |
Lucille Bliss |
U.S. actress (The Smurfs, Invader ZIM) (died 2012). |
April 4, 1916 |
David White |
U.S. actor (Bewitched) (died 1990). |
April 26, 1916 |
Vic Perrin |
American voice actor, The Outer Limits, Hanna-Barbera cartoons (died 1989) |
May 14, 1916 |
Del Moore |
American actor, (Life with Elizabeth, Bachelor Father, Dragnet 1967) (died 1970) |
July 11, 1916 |
Reg Varney |
U.K Comedy Actor (The Rag Trade, On the Buses) (died 2008) |
July 23, 1916 |
Sandra Gould |
U.S. actress (Bewitched) (died 1999). |
August 24, 1916 |
Hal Smith |
U.S. actor (The Andy Griffith Show) (died 1994). |
November 4, 1916 |
Walter Cronkite |
U.S. anchorman (CBS Evening News). (died 2009) |
March 2, 1917 |
Desi Arnaz |
Cuban-born actor (I Love Lucy) (died 1986). |
March 30, 1917 |
Herbert Anderson |
U.S. actor (Dennis the Menace) (died 1994). |
April 2, 1917 |
Dabbs Greer |
U.S. actor (The Fugitive) (died 2007). |
May 16, 1917 |
George Gaynes |
Finnish-born U.S. actor (Punky Brewster, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd) (died 2016) |
May 21, 1917 |
Raymond Burr |
Canadian actor (Perry Mason, Ironside). (died 1993) |
July 14, 1917 |
Douglas Edwards |
U.S. anchorman (CBS Evening News) (died 1990). |
September 4, 1919 |
Howard Morris |
U.S. actor (The Andy Griffith Show) (died 2005). |
September 4, 1917 |
Hilary Mason |
British actress (Maid Marian and her Merry Men). (died 2006) |
October 16, 1917 |
Alice Pearce |
U.S. actress (Bewitched). (died 1966) |
October 28, 1917 |
Jack Soo |
Japanese-American actor (Barney Miller) (died 1979). |
December 22, 1917 |
Gene Rayburn |
U.S. television personality (Match Game, The Tonight Show). (died 1999) |
February 15, 1918 |
Allan Arbus |
U.S. actor (M*A*S*H). (died 2013) |
February 22, 1918 |
Don Pardo |
U.S. television announcer (Saturday Night Live). (died 2014) |
May 1, 1918 |
Jack Paar |
U.S. television personality (The Tonight Show). (died 2004) |
May 9, 1918 |
Mike Wallace |
U.S. anchorman (60 Minutes). (died 2012) |
July 26, 1918 |
Stacy Harris |
U.S. actor (Dragnet, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp). (died 1973) |
November 4, 1918 |
Art Carney |
U.S. actor (The Honeymooners) (died 2003) |
December 2, 1918 |
Milton DeLugg |
U.S. bandleader and composer (The Bill Cullen Show, Broadway Open House, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) (died 2015) |
January 13, 1919 |
Robert Stack |
U.S. actor (The Untouchables, Unsolved Mysteries) (died 2003) |
February 11, 1919 |
Eva Gabor |
Hungarian actress (Green Acres) (died 1995) |
May 4, 1919 |
John Hope |
U.S. meteorologist (The Weather Channel), named Hurricane Camille for his daughter (died 2002) |
October 14, 1919 |
Shaun Sutton |
British writer, director, and producer; longest-serving Head of Drama at BBC Television (died 2004) |
November 19, 1919 |
Alan Young |
English-born U.S. actor (Mister Ed) (died 2016) |
December 11, 1919 |
Cliff Michelmore |
English broadcast presenter (died 2016). |
February 18, 1920 |
Bill Cullen |
U.S. game series host (The Price Is Right, Blockbusters) (died 1990) |
February 26, 1920 |
Tony Randall |
U.S. actor (The Odd Couple) (died 2004) |
July 10, 1920 |
David Brinkley |
U.S. anchorman (The Huntley-Brinkley Report) (died 2003) |
July 18, 1920 |
Dolph Sweet |
U.S. actor (Gimme a Break!, Another World) (died 1985). |
November 25, 1920 |
Noel Neill |
U.S. actress (Adventures of Superman) |
January 15, 1921 |
Frank Thornton |
British actor (Are You Being Served?) (died 2013) |
February 24, 1921 |
Abe Vigoda |
U.S. actor (Barney Miller) (died 2016) |
May 14, 1921 |
Richard Deacon |
U.S. actor (The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It to Beaver) (died 1984) |
August 8, 1921 |
William Asher |
U.S. producer, director, and writer (Bewitched) (died 2012) |
October 17, 1921 |
Tom Poston |
U.S. actor (Newhart) (died 2007). |
November 14, 1921 |
Brian Keith |
U.S. actor (died 1997). |
November 22, 1921 |
Rodney Dangerfield |
U.S. comedian and actor (The Dean Martin Show). (died 2004) |
December 26, 1921 |
Steve Allen |
U.S. television personality (The Tonight Show). (died 2000) |
January 17, 1922 |
Betty White |
U.S. actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls) |
January 21, 1922 |
Telly Savalas |
U.S. actor (Kojak) (died 1994) |
January 30, 1922 |
Dick Martin |
U.S. comedian (Laugh-In) (died 2008) |
February 24, 1922 |
Steven Hill |
U.S. actor (Law & Order, Mission: Impossible) |
February 18, 1922 |
Allan Melvin |
U.S. actor (Magilla Gorilla, The Brady Bunch, All in the Family) (died 2008) |
March 5, 1922 |
James Noble |
U.S. actor (Benson) |
March 20, 1922 |
Carl Reiner |
U.S. actor, writer, director, and producer (Your Show of Shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show). |
April 5, 1922 |
Christopher Hewett |
British actor (Mr. Belvedere) (died 2001) |
April 5, 1922 |
Gale Storm |
U.S. actress (My Little Margie) (died 2009) |
April 27, 1922 |
Jack Klugman |
U.S. actor (The Odd Couple, Quincy). (died 2012) |
May 7, 1922 |
Darren McGavin |
U.S. actor (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) (died 2006) |
May 10, 1922 |
Nancy Walker |
U.S. actress (Rhoda, Bounty paper towel commercials) (died 1992) |
May 18, 1922 |
Bill Macy |
U.S. actor (Maude). |
May 22, 1922 |
Quinn Martin |
U.S. producer (The Fugitive, The F.B.I., The Streets of San Francisco) (died 1987) |
July 21, 1922 |
Mollie Sugden |
British actress (Are You Being Served?). (died 2009) |
July 22, 1922 |
Dan Rowan |
U.S. comedian (Laugh-In) (died 1987) |
July 27, 1922 |
Norman Lear |
U.S. producer (All in the Family, Sanford and Son and many others) |
September 1, 1922 |
Yvonne De Carlo |
U.S. actress (The Munsters) (died 2007) |
October 9, 1922 |
Fyvush Finkel |
U.S. stage and television actor (Boston Public). |
October 31, 1922 |
Barbara Bel Geddes |
U.S. actress (Dallas) (died 2005) |
November 13, 1922 |
Jack Narz |
U.S. game show host and announcer (died 2008) |
December 9, 1922 |
Redd Foxx |
U.S. comedian (Sanford and Son) (died 1991) |
December 20, 1922 |
Charita Bauer |
U.S. actress (The Guiding Light) (died 1985) |
January 8, 1923 |
Larry Storch |
U.S. actor (F-Troop) |
January 19, 1923 |
Jean Stapleton |
U.S. actress (All in the Family). (died 2013) |
January 23, 1923 |
Florence Halop |
U.S. actress (St. Elsewhere, Night Court) (died 1986) |
February 4, 1923 |
Conrad Bain |
Canadian-born U.S. actor (Maude, Diff'rent Strokes) (died 2013). |
April 13, 1923 |
Don Adams |
U.S. actor (Get Smart, Inspector Gadget) (died 2005). |
April 22, 1923 |
Aaron Spelling |
U.S. movie and television producer (Beverly Hills, 90210) (died 2006). |
April 30, 1923 |
Al Lewis |
U.S. actor (The Munsters) (died 2006). |
May 13, 1923 |
Beatrice Arthur |
U.S. actress (Maude, The Golden Girls) (died 2009) |
July 25, 1923 |
Estelle Getty |
U.S. actress (The Golden Girls) (died 2008) |
August 15, 1923 |
Rose Marie |
U.S. actress (The Dick Van Dyke Show). |
September 28, 1923 |
William Windom |
U.S. actor (Murder, She Wrote). (died 2012) |
December 12, 1923 |
Bob Barker |
U.S. game series host (The New Price Is Right). |
January 19, 1924 |
Nicholas Colasanto |
U.S. actor and director (Cheers). (died 1985) |
March 3, 1924 |
John Woodnutt |
British actor (died 2006). |
May 1, 1924 |
Art Fleming |
U.S. stage, radio, and television personality (Jeopardy!) (died 1995). |
June 26, 1924 |
Richard Bull |
U.S. movie and television actor (Little House on the Prairie) (died 2014). |
July 11, 1924 |
Brett Somers |
Canadian-born U.S. actress and comedian (The Odd Couple, Match Game '73) (died 2007). |
July 21, 1924 |
Don Knotts |
U.S. actor (The Andy Griffith Show, Three's Company) (died 2006). |
August 2, 1924 |
Carroll O'Connor |
U.S. actor (All in the Family, In the Heat of the Night). (died 2001) |
November 18, 1924 |
Les Lye |
Canadian actor (You Can't Do That On Television). (died 2009) |