More recently, it was difficult for us to imagine our life without TV even for a minute. Thanks to its presence, we could have a good time watching our favorite TV shows. But scientific and technological progress did not stand still, which led to the emergence of many technical innovations. Today, phones, tablets, computers, laptops and other modern gadgets are very popular. Despite the fact that television has begun to fade into the background, I think you will be interested to know amazing facts about televisions and delve into the history of their creation.
12 facts about TVs
1. Back in 1884 and 1906, scientists invented devices that in the future became the basis of mechanical television. The first television receiver was invented by Max Dieckmann in 1907 with a screen of only 3 by 3 cm. The scanning frequency of this receiver was 10 frames per second.
2. The first transmitting electron tube iconoscope was created by Vladimir Zvorykin in 1931. With this discovery he made a real breakthrough in all electronic television.
3. The first televisions measuring 13 by 25 cm began to be produced in large volumes in the USA.
4. The television era in the USA began with a funny incident. During an advertisement for one company, a very clear and believable image of a cockroach appeared on televisions. After some time, everyone learned about the existence of two lawsuits in court. It turned out that two people, thinking that these were real cockroaches on televisions, smashed them to destroy the crawling monster.
5. According to statistics, the Japanese spend the most time watching TV. It takes them about 9 hours a day to do this.
6. In families where the habit of watching television programs during meals has taken root, digestive disorders are observed.
7. Plasma TVs are considered the most short-lived. They are designed for only 300 hours of operation. After this period has expired, the display gradually fades out. High operating temperatures are to blame. 
8. Laser TVs on this moment occupy the first position in terms of durability. They were patented in 2008. Their advantage is the color range, which is wider compared to others, as well as the ability to support a high refresh rate (up to 240 Hz). The pixels of these screens are not subject to burnout, which extends the life of the lasers. Laser TVs consume several times less electricity than LCD TVs.
9. In China, there is a television cemetery, where about 90 thousand faulty equipment has already been recovered.
10. It has been proven that color TVs cause less harm to the eyes than black and white TVs.
11. Some ultra-modern models of this technology amazingly help relieve the load by stimulating the eye muscles.
12. If a person lives in the UK and owns a television, he is required to pay a certain amount of tax annually.
It would be appropriate to mention the main wisdom of life: without knowing history, the future is impossible. So, you have dived a little into the history and facts about such a “miracle of technology” as a TV. Now, knowing all these facts, you will be able to draw conclusions from mistakes and create technical progress in our future. By learning these fun facts, you will improve the quality of your life. After all, it has long been known that knowledge is the engine of progress.
One more fact that I would like to add on my own behalf. As you know, everything is good in moderation. The influence of viewing advertising on the zombification of a person has been repeatedly noted. Watching this tempting technique leads to deterioration of the figure, since the person moves little and constantly absorbs food. Think about how much time you devote to this “little family member.” But you could devote this time to your family and friends, read educational book, go in for sports, go for a walk fresh air and improve your health. Therefore, you should know not only the facts about TVs, but also all the pros and cons of watching it. After all, everyone knows catchphrase the famous ancient Greek healer and physician Hippocrates that everything in small doses is medicine, and in large doses it is poison. Take this into account and approach all your hobbies with the utmost seriousness.
In 1996, the UN General Assembly proposed to celebrate World Television Day, November 21, with the purpose of sharing television programs on peace, security, economic and social development and expanding cultural exchange.
Life modern man It’s hard to imagine without television, because today there are no states left in the world that are not covered by television broadcasting.
AiF.ru offers a selection of interesting facts from the history of television.
The Ostankino TV tower project was invented overnight
After the Great Patriotic War In the USSR, it was decided to improve the quality of television broadcasting, which required the construction of an additional television tower. Soviet scientist Nikolai Nikitin overnight he came up with a project for the Ostankino TV tower. In Europe, the Ostankino Tower is considered the largest free-standing structure. Its height is 540 meters (45 floors). For almost 10 years it was the tallest tower in the world. Before the construction of the Ostankino TV tower, continuous broadcasting television programs was provided through the Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka.
Ostankino Tower. Photo: RIA Novosti
CNN is the first 24-hour broadcasting channel
CNN became the first channel to broadcast news around the clock. In America, the channel received the nickname “Network chicken noodles" (English - Chicken Hoodie Network). The broadcaster broadcasts on six continents and four languages - English, Spanish, Turkish and German - and has an audience of more than a billion viewers. CNN was one of the first to switch to digital technology.
CNN, Atlanta. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Tallest TV tower in Japan
The Sky Tree is the tallest tower structure ever built. The height of the tower is 634 m. Tokyo Tower is not only a television tower, but also a huge entertainment and shopping complex. A total of 580 thousand people took part in its construction, and during the final stage of construction, 1,200 people were at the very top at a time. A total of $812 million was spent on Tree of Heaven.
Tokyo Sky Tree. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Kyiv TV Tower - the tallest lattice structure in the world
The Kiev TV Tower is a high-rise structure with a height of 380 meters and is the tallest lattice structure in the world. A unique feature of the design is that no bolts or rivets were used when installing the tower elements; all connections are made by electric welding. The 24-story tower is part of the television center, a complex of buildings built on the site of a destroyed Jewish cemetery. Construction of the complex began in 1983, but before today construction of the television center has not been completed.
Kyiv TV tower. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
The first television advertisement cost the customer nine dollars
The history of paid television advertising dates back to July 1, 1941. It was on this day that a ten-second video clip from the Bulova Watch Company was shown on television in the United States. It cost the customer nine dollars, including production. In the USSR, the year of birth of the first television advertisement is 1964. It was then that a short film with elements of a musical about corn was aired. And the most famous commercial in the world is “1984,” dedicated to the Macintosh computer. Directed by Ridley Scott, it was commissioned by Apple. The price of the video was 900 thousand dollars for 90 seconds.
In England there is a tax on watching television
In the UK there is a TV tax, since 2010 it has been £145.50 per year. Its collection ensures that the BBC's public television channel operates ad-free. All households are required to pay a license fee, regardless of how they receive the television signal. All TV sellers are required to provide buyers' addresses to a special database that the BBC uses to send letters to tax evaders.
The announcers used green lipstick in their makeup.
In the era of black and white television, presenters wore green lipstick before broadcasts. It stood out more than red when the picture passed through the red filters of cameras, and red lipstick made the lips look pale on TV screens.
Why are television series called "soap operas"?
In the 1930s, serial programs with simple plots appeared on American radio. They were sponsored by soap manufacturers and other detergents, since the main audience for these programs were housewives. Therefore, the expression “soap opera” was assigned to radio and subsequently television series.
The longest series is not “Santa Barbara”
The longest-running series in the world, the American Guiding Light is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running film on television. It had 15,762 episodes. It has been watched by several generations of television viewers since 1952.
Santa Barbara. Photo: Still from the film
Most expensive television contract
The most expensive television contract is the contract with Oprah Winfrey. In six years (from 1994 to 2000), he brought the Harpo company $300 million. Oprah Winfrey owns her own film studio and her own cable TV channel, OWN.
On August 18, 1900, Russian engineer Konstantin Persky coined the word “television.” During the existence of TV, a lot has happened on it interesting events. We have collected for you the most interesting facts about television.
The longest running TV show appeared in Russia. Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich was even included in the Guinness Book of Records as the host of the longest-living program - “Cinema Travel Club”.
But the longest television series was not “Santa Barbara,” as many people think, but “Guiding Light.” It has been going on since 1937. True, first on the radio. It appeared on TV in 1952 and lasted until 2009. A total of 15 thousand 763 episodes were shown.
The most popular series on TV was CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) - 2008.
Why are soap operas called that? It's all pretty banal. In the 1930s, serial programs with simple tear-jerking stories appeared on American radio. They were sponsored by manufacturers of soap and other detergents, since the main audience for these programs were housewives. Therefore, the expression “soap opera” was assigned to radio and subsequently television series.
In the era of black and white television, presenters sat in the frame, smeared with green lipstick and blush of the same color. The thing is that cameras at that time often used red filters, which is why red lipstick made lips look pale on TV screens. Therefore, announcers and actresses were made up with green blush and lipstick.
First experienced transfers in Moscow began in 1931. However, televisions, or receivers, as they were called then, were not yet released. However, resourceful Muscovites have already watched the programs! How? The magazine “Moscow Speaks” proudly reported that more than thirty homemade televisions were already working in the capital at that time.
Popular American TV presenter Johnny Carson joked on his show in 1973 that there was a production crisis in the country. toilet paper and that its stocks in stores are rapidly declining. This triggered an actual toilet paper shortage - although Carson apologized the next day, it was too late. There was an acute shortage of this product on sale for another three weeks.
In 1962, viewers in Sweden were taught how to watch color TV. On April 1, the channel's technical expert told viewers that thanks to new technology they can easily switch from black and white to color mode. To do this, you had to put a nylon stocking on the TV, which he demonstrated in live.
The .tv domain that TV channel sites like to register with is not a generic domain like .com or .org. He belongs small state Tuvalu, in Oceania. The government of Tuvalu receives more than $2 million a year for the right to use the domain - this is a tenth of all income of this state.
American evangelist Billy Graham broke his promise not to watch television when the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan's TV show.
The most popular TV channel in the world is Aljazeera. According to some estimates, its audience is 2 billion people.
Television plays an important role in the life of a modern person. For the last century, it has been providing people with news, entertaining them, making them laugh, cry, or even scare them. This began with the early days of black and white televisions and continues through to today's colorful flat screens. In this review we will talk about little-known, incredible and simply fun facts related to television.
1. The power of persuasion
In 1969, the United States wanted to cut the public broadcasting budget. Rogers, who was relatively unknown at the time, went to Washington to convince Congress. As a result, the estimated budget of $9 million was increased to $22 million.
2. Chanel didn't skimp
3. Black and white or color?
It is known that most people dream in color. However, people who grew up in the era of black and white television tend to dream in black and white.
4. Ban on viewing
Philo Taylor Farnsworth is considered the inventor of modern television. Interestingly, he did not allow his children to watch TV.
5. "The house is closed for renovations"
In the USA, the reality show “House Closed for Renovation” was extremely popular for 9 years (2003-2012). Few people know that it has driven many families into bankruptcy and foreclosure on their properties.
6. TV tax
In the UK, people who own a television must pay a TV tax of $230 to support the BBC.
7. The Tireless Dave Thomas
Founder of an American restaurant chain fast food Wendy's Dave Thomas has starred in more than 800 commercials for your company. No one in history has made more commercials.
8. Hijacking a TV station
In 1987, a man hijacked a television station during an episode of Doctor Who. He appeared on screens across the country wearing a mask and spouting some nonsense for some time. As a result of this stranger
never caught.
9. "TV Ghost"
In the 1930s, the television series "Television Ghost" was shown on screens. In it, an actor disguised as a dead man talked about how he was killed.
10. Product placement is illegal
Product placement is illegal in Norway. This is implicit advertising in which characters in films and TV shows use products that have real commercial analogues.
11. "CSI Effect"
Thanks to television series about police work, criminals have become better at covering up the tracks of their crimes. This was called the "CSI Effect".
12. The first pianist on TV
American pianist Earl Wild was the first person to play the piano on television. 60 years later, he became the first person to stream video games online.
13. 15 years of life on TV
On average, each person in the United States spends 15 years of their life watching television. 70% of Russians watch TV daily.
14. Longest animated series
The Simpsons is the longest-running animated series in American television history. The second longest running animated series is Hey Arnold!
15. The most popular TV series in the world
The British TV show Top Gear is the most popular series in the world.
16. Suicide Live
In 1974, broadcaster Christine Chubbuck announced during a television broadcast that "in accordance with Channel 40's policy of as much blood and guts as possible on air, this will be the first time viewers will be shown a suicide attempt." She then pulled out a gun and killed herself by shooting herself in the head.
17. "Deadly Rooms"
"Deadly Rooms" is a documentary series released in 1995 that showed Chinese orphanages. Children there repeatedly died of hunger.
18. TV - The Great Manipulator
Sunglasses Wayfarers almost became a relic in the 1980s. However, Ray-Ban signed a product placement deal that saw the glasses featured in nearly 60 television shows and films, dramatically increasing their popularity.
19. 5 hours daily
Today people watch much less TV due to the rapid development of the Internet. However, the average American still spends 5 hours every day watching TV.
20. First interracial kiss
The first interracial kiss on American television was aired during an episode of Star Trek. Interestingly, the scene was filmed with and without a kiss, but the actors (Shatner and Nichols) deliberately ruined every shot taken without a kiss.
21. TV broadcast cost $100 million
After President Kennedy died in 1963, television networks broadcast only the scene of his funeral non-stop for 4 days. This cost $100 million in lost advertising revenue.
22. TV on mobile devices
Progress does not stand still. 25% of people watch TV shows on mobile devices.
23. 17 days of advertising life
There is hardly a single person who likes annoying advertising. In the United States, people spend about 17 days of their lives watching commercials.
24. John Munch
John Munch (played by Richard Belzer) - the only one fictional character, played by the same actor and featured in 10 different television series. These include Law & Order and The X-Files.
25. Comedy series "Seinfeld"
Seinfeld is an American comedy series that aired for 11 years (1989 - 1988). Every episode has a hidden Superman.
On October 1, 1931, full-fledged television broadcasting began in Moscow - the first television programs with sound on medium waves went on air.
On the anniversary of domestic television, RG selected several interesting facts about Soviet television broadcasting.
Lunch break
On weekdays, Soviet television broadcast mainly in the morning and evening - from 6-8 a.m. to midnight or 11:00 p.m. And during the day, as a rule, from 13:00 to 16:00, when the Soviet worker was at his place of work, there was a break in the programs. At this time, the “First Program” showed the clock, and the “Second” showed the tuning table.
Editorial
The creation of programs of various types on Soviet television was carried out by the Chief Editorial Offices - “for children and youth”, “information” and others. Among them were some that were quite specific to modern television, for example, Chief Editor folk art, which supported the presence of culture on television numerous peoples THE USSR.
Makeup
At dawn Soviet television Announcers wore green lipstick before broadcasts. This was a common practice of the era of black-and-white television: green lipstick stood out more than red lipstick when the picture passed through the common red filters.
For bedtime
At night, when the program program came to an end, a special reminder appeared on the screen for a few minutes - a flashing message “Remember to turn off the TV,” accompanied by an unpleasant sound. It was not easy for viewers dozing off at the screen to ignore this call.
Mechanical television
Early television in the USSR was not entirely based on electricity and used mechanical TV technology. It initially did not even involve sound broadcasting, and it was in this silent format that the first experimental television signals were given on May 1, 1931. Mechanical television was finally abandoned in favor of electric television on April 1, 1941.
Good things come in small packages
After the launch of television broadcasting in Moscow, Leningrad and Odessa, broadcasts were not carried out very often. For example, in Moscow, programs were broadcast only 12 times a month, and their duration was 60 minutes. After the war, in December 1945, Moscow viewers were the first in Europe to enjoy regular broadcasting. And it became daily since the beginning of 1955.
Long breaks
In the first half of the 20th century, the television signal was often interrupted for quite a long time. At the end of 1933, broadcasting in Moscow stopped for two months - at this time experiments were carried out on the transition to electric television. Leningrad television was turned off during the blockade, and the Moscow television center interrupted the broadcast for six months in 1948-1949 due to reconstruction.
TV program
Soviet television practically did not use the now common term “channel”. Instead, the Soviet viewer could switch between “programs”. Only in November 1989 the Moscow program was replaced by the Moscow TV channel, and later Ostankino Channel One, RTR, 2x2 and others appeared.
Wide choice
Until the mid-50s, Central Television was limited to one program. In 1956, the “Second Program” appeared, in 1965 - the educational “Third”, and two and a half years later - the “Fourth”. Subsequently, eight channels were used - they carried duplicates of the main programs, adjusted for local time in other time zones.
Advertising existed on Soviet television before it appeared in its usual form in the mid-80s. Only it was broadcast not during breaks in programs, but as independent programs called “Advertising” or “More good goods" and were somewhat reminiscent of "Shopping on the Couch."