Which, IIRC, was the day the Buffalo-to-Chicago coaxial cable link was joined to Boston-to-Richmond. I remember a story about a Philadelphia man who had attended Benjamin Harrison's inauguration as a child in 1889; watching Truman's inauguration on January 20, 1949, he said that watching from home was "the much more comfortable way."
You might want to check out the listings for WNBT (WNBC) New York for July 1, 1941 and WCBW (WCBS) for July 2. You'll find the first telecasts of Lowell Thomas's newscast and a one-time-only telecast of "Truth Or Consequences" on July 1; the following night is the first regularly-scheduled game show, "The CBS Television Quiz," with host Gil Fates, who had a long career at Goodson-Todman as producer of such institutions as "What's My Line?," "I've Got A Secret," and "To Tell The Truth," as well as Herb Shriner's popular "Two For The Money." (His 1978 book about "What's My Line?" is a fascinating insider's account of all three panel shows, although his connection to Shriner is mentioned only on the dust jacket.)
WDTV, although a Dumont o&o, did a lot of horse trading with the other networks, since it was the only station in Pittsburgh, which is how Berle (NBC) and Godfrey and Edwards (CBS) appeared on the station. "Studio One" aired on CBS Mondays at 10 because the sponsor, Westinghouse, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, naturally wanted to be cleared there, and WDTV had just that one timeslot available. (That's sort of like Procter & Gamble making sure all its soaps were carried in the headquarters town, Cincinnati, even if other companies' soaps, like "Love Of Life" (owned by American Home Products for most of its run), got bumped. "Somerset," on NBC, was a P&G soap pre-empted on WLWT but picked up by then-ABC affiliate WKRC. Ah, the vagaries of business!)
