See also:
1938 in television,
other events of 1939,
1940 in television and the
list of 'years in television'.
Events
- April - television demonstrations are held at the World's Fair in New York City and the Golden Gate International Exhibition in San Francisco, California.
- April 30 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, appearing at the World's Fair, becomes the first President of the United States to give a speech that is broadcast on television.
- May 17 - The first baseball game (Princeton - Columbia) is broadcast on television, from Baker Field in New York. Bill Stern is the announcer.
- May 19 - The Walt Disney cartoon Donald's Cousin Gus airs on NBC's experimental station W2XBS (later WNBC) in New York. This marked the first film cartoon to be televised.
- June 1 - The first heavyweight boxing match is televised, Max Baer vs Lou Nova, from Yankee Stadium.
- June 14 - Blues singer Ethel Waters' variety show airs on NBC. Waters becomes the first African-American to perform on television.
- August 26 - The first Major League Baseball game is telecast, a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, in Brooklyn, New York.
- September 1 - The anticipated outbreak of World War II brings television broadcasting at the BBC to an abrupt end at 12:10 p.m. at the conclusion of the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey’s Gala Première. The last words broadcast are of a Garbo caricature saying "Ah tink ah kiss you now". It was feared that the VHF waves of television would act as a perfect homing signal for guiding enemy bombers to central London: in any case, the engineers of the television service would be needed for the war effort, particularly for RADAR. The BBC would resume its broadcasting, with the same Mickey Mouse cartoon, after the war in 1946.
- The DuMont company begins producing consumer television sets.
- September 30 - The first televised college football game, Fordham vs Waynesburg College, at Randall's Island, New York.
- October 22 - The first National Football League game is televised. The Brooklyn Dodgers vs Philadelphia Eagles at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn.
Popular Television Shows
Births
- January 17 - Maury Povich, talk show host
- February 6 - Mike Farrell, actor
- April 11 - Louise Lasser, actress
- April 23 - David Birney, actor
- April 23 - Lee Majors, actor
- April 27 - Judy Carne, comedienne
- May 1 - Max Robinson, journalist († 1988)
- May 25 - Dixie Carter, actress
- June 1 - Cleavon Little, actor († 1992)
- June 9 - Dick Vitale, sportscaster
- September 1 - Lily Tomlin, comedienne
- September 18 - Fred Willard, comedian
- September 29 - Larry Linville, actor
- October 27 - John Cleese, comedian
- November 20 - Dick Smothers, comedian
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