The 75 most unforgettable moments in tv history

In 1920, farmer Philo T. Farnsworth gazed at the parallel lines he’d plowed in his beet field and had an inspired thought: electrons could be lined up on a tube and transmit images. His

“Image Dissector” invention helped create the TV industry, and we’ve been glued to the tube ever since America’s top radio star, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, made his — and the

industry’s — telecast debut in 1939. But we tend to forget most of the countless shows we’ve watched — hey, it’s tough even to keep track of what’s on TV this week (unless you read

AARP's weekly What to Watch column and our monthly updates on Netflix and Prime Video). To refresh your memory, here are the events, shows and scenes that truly made history —  the 75

TV moments most worth remembering. [embedded content] APRIL 30, 1939 In the first TV telecast, FDR opens the New York World’s Fair. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty

Images JANUARY 25, 1949 At the first Emmy Awards, _Pantomime Quiz Time_ wins the most popular television program award. The award was originally supposed to be called the "Ike,"

short for the iconoscope tube that made TV possible (originally invented to guide flying bombs in World War II). But President Eisenhower was called Ike, and the device used in TVs was

called the camera image orthicon tube, so they changed it to the "Immy," then feminized it to the "Emmy." [embedded content] SEPTEMBER 15, 1952 In one of the most

celebrated episodes of TV’s No. 1 show,_ __I Love Lucy_, Lucille Ball works at a candy factory and can’t keep up with the conveyor belt, so she stuffs her mouth with chocolates. [embedded

content] SEPTEMBER 23, 1952 Vice Presidential nominee Richard Nixon delivers his emotional “Checkers speech," saying he plans to keep the cocker spaniel named Checkers that a citizen

gave his 6-year-old daughter, Tricia, and saves his career from a political donations scandal. [embedded content] JUNE 2, 1953 Defying advisors including Winston Churchill, England’s Queen

Elizabeth II, 27, allows TV cameras into Westminster Abbey for the first time, so that 20 million Britons (and millions more in America) could watch her coronation — the first TV event whose

audience outnumbered any radio audience. [embedded content] SEPTEMBER 11, 1954 Reality TV begins with the Miss America pageant’s TV debut. [embedded content] SEPTEMBER 9, 1956 Sixty million

watch Elvis Presley on _The Ed Sullivan Show_, 82.6 percent of the TV audience. Despite Elvis’ scandalous swiveling hips, Sullivan calls him “a real decent, fine boy.” [embedded content]

SEPTEMBER 26, 1960 In the first televised presidential debate, an estimated 70 million see sweaty candidate Nixon seemingly win on points against opponent John F. Kennedy but lose on looks.

[embedded content] SEPTEMBER 30, 1960 _The Flintstones_ make animation fun for the whole family, popularizing Fred’s catchphrase “Yabba-Dabba Doo!” (inspired by the Brylcreem slogan “A

little dab’ll do ya”) [embedded content] MARCH 2, 1962 On _The Twilight Zone_, aliens invade earth, tell humans their goal is “to serve man” — turns out they mean to cook and eat us all.

[embedded content] NOVEMBER 22, 1963 Near tears, Walter Cronkite breaks into the broadcast of _As the World Turns_ to announce the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. [embedded

content] NOVEMBER 24, 1963 A CBS News camera records nightclub owner Jack Ruby’s assassination of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. In 2018, that camera sells to a collector for $16,000.

[embedded content] FEBRUARY 9, 1964 Seventy-three million viewers watch The Beatles debut on _The Ed Sullivan Show_, the antidote to the nation’s grief over the fallen young President.

William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk in "Star Trek." Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection DECEMBER 29, 1967 The ordinarily somber sci-fi show _Star Trek__ _does a comic episode

about cute, uncontrollably reproducing furry creatures invading the U.S.S. _Enterprise_, “The Trouble With Tribbles,” inspired by invasive rabbits in Australia. [embedded content] JULY 20,

1969 Ninety-three percent of​ Americans watch Neil Armstrong take one giant leap for mankind onto the moon. [embedded content] SEPTEMBER 25, 1970 _The Partridge Family_ debuts. Star Shirley

Jones had turned down the mom role on _The Brady Bunch_ because she didn’t want to spend her time making sandwiches. Her band’s first No. 1 hit, “I Think I Love You,” outsells The

Beatles' “Let It Be.” [embedded content] MARCH 30, 1971 In the proud tradition of _Leave It to Beaver_, which depicted the first toilet on TV in 1957 in an episode where the kids hide a

pet alligator in the toilet tank,_ __All in the Family_ features TV’s first toilet heard flushing. [embedded content] APRIL 2, 1974 A streaker races past David Niven, who’s about to

present the Oscar for Best Picture. Niven quips, “But isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his

shortcomings?” [embedded content] OCTOBER 25, 1975 Mary finds it impossible not to burst out laughing at the funeral of a famous clown in the legendary _Mary Tyler Moore Show_ episode

“Chuckles Bites the Dust.” _The New York Times_ calls it “the funniest half-hour in television history.” [embedded content] NOVEMBER 13, 1976 In _The Carol Burnett Show_’s most famous

episode, “Went With the Wind,” she channels Scarlett O’Hara and wears an actual curtain for a dress, explaining, “I saw it in the window and I just couldn’t resist it.” The laugh is the

longest in the show’s history and has to be edited down to fit on TV. (Left to right) Alex Haley and LeVar Burton on the set of "Roots." Warner Bros Television/Courtesy Everett

Collection JANUARY 30, 1977 Until the _M*A*S*H _finale in 1983, the 100 million viewers of the final episode of Alex Haley’s _Roots_, dramatizing the author’s search for his family’s African

past and American experience, is the biggest audience for any show. [embedded content] SEPTEMBER 20, 1977 Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps the shark on water skis on _Happy Days_. In 1985,

college student Jon Hein coins the phrase “jumping the shark” to signify the point where a show is doomed. It catches on big time; in 2006 Hein sells his company, Jump The Shark, Inc., for

over $1 million. Later, on _Arrested_ _Development_, Henry Winkler jumps over a tiny shark on a dock. Viewers get the joke. [embedded content] FEBRUARY 22, 1980 The U.S. Olympic hockey team

beats the heavily favored Soviets in what became known as the "Miracle on Ice.” [embedded content] NOVEMBER 21, 1980 Eighty-three million watch TV’s trashiest show, _Dallas_, to find

out who shot the nastiest man on TV, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). Spoiler: It was his mistress Kristin Shepard (Bing Crosby’s daughter Mary Crosby). DECEMBER 8, 1980 Howard Cosell interrupts

_Monday Night Football_ to announce the assassination of John Lennon.