January 25: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on January 25. Discuss or comment as you please……

1923: TV kiddie host Sally Starr is born (as Sally Beller) in Kansas City, Missouri. Her long devotion to presenting Three Stooges shorts on Philadelphia TV would lead to the reward of a role in the 1965 Stooges movie “The Outlaws is Coming” as sharpshooter Belle Starr. (Several local kiddie hosts were cast in this, the final Stooges theatrical feature, as thanks for their role in reviving the Stooges’ careers.)

1936: Actress Diana Hyland (Peyton Place, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, Eight is Enough) is born (as Diana Gentner) in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

1947: The first patent for what could be loosely termed a “video game” (actually termed a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device") is applied for by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. Inspired by radar displays, it consisted of an analog device that allowed a user to control a vector drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets represented by drawings fixed to the screen.

1949: The first Emmy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club, but solely to honor shows produced and aired locally in the Los Angeles area. The awards would become a national event two years later.

1953: WABI-TV (channel 5) signs on in Bangor, becoming the first TV station in Maine.

1961: John F. Kennedy holds the first live televised presidential press conference.

(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. It’s an entirely random selection based on a quick Net search, and is not meant to be comprehensive. So, don’t post nasty messages about “you forgot THIS” or “how could you not mention THAT?” Do so, and I’ll just take my keyboard and go home…..)

 

[RicoGregg]

1936: Actress Diana Hyland (Peyton Place, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, Eight is Enough) is born (as Diana Gentner) in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Diana Hyland is interred in a mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Inscribed on the plaque just below her name and birth and death years reads the following:

"Go away! I'm sleeping!"

 

[wbhist]

1947: The first patent for what could be loosely termed a “video game” (actually termed a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device") is applied for by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. Inspired by radar displays, it consisted of an analog device that allowed a user to control a vector drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets represented by drawings fixed to the screen.

Might this be the same Thomas T. Goldsmith whose initials were the namesake for the call letters of WTTG (Ch. 5) in Washington, DC?

 

[bpatrick]

I suspect it was. BTW, after Goldsmith retired,
he moved back to his hometown of Greenville, SC;
I've seen where he lived. Nothing fancy, just a
comfortable-looking house just north of town.

Also on this date in 1937, Guiding Light debuts
on NBC's Red network (NBC as we know it today).
It will move to CBS radio in 1947 and from there to
television in 1952. Have you ever seen soap-opera
parodies where the announcer ends by asking, "Will
so-and-so...?" Well, here's a serious one: "Will GL
live to see its 75th anniversary?"

 

[wbhist]

And another thing on this date . . .

1999: Former WOR-TV/radio staff announcer/producer Ted Mallie, whose credits included Million Dollar Movie, Fright Night and Steampipe Alley, dies in Queens, N.Y., aged 74. Along with Phil Tonken, Mallie was the "Voice of WOR" through the 1980's, including the first years as WWOR-TV (after 1987).

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Also on this date in 1937, Guiding Light debuts
on NBC's Red network (NBC as we know it today).
It will move to CBS radio in 1947 and from there to
television in 1952. Have you ever seen soap-opera
parodies where the announcer ends by asking, "Will
so-and-so...?" Well, here's a serious one: "Will GL
live to see its 75th anniversary?"

Sadly, since the last post on this thread, GL has officially entered television history this past Sept. 18, 2009--2 years, 4 months, and one week short of its 75th anniversary.