# First Transatlantic Radio Signal - 1901 December 12
"On this day, Marconi and his assistants were able to hear the three short bursts of the Morse code 'S' at the receiving station set up in a hospital in Signal Hill, St. John's Newfoundland. This first transatlantic telegraph transmission originated in Poldhu in Cornwall, England, 2100 miles [3400km] across the Atlantic Ocean."
Source: http://ns1763.ca/radio30/radio-first-30yrs.htm


# Marconi Company linking ships, the British Empire by 1920
"Within a year Marconi had established reliable radio communications with ships over 2000 miles away and by the 1920’s the Marconi Company linked the entire British Empire by radio."
Actually, this point was from an interesting article that claims Marconi's first success was a fabrication possibly for commercial gain, or even just a mistake.  http://www.scansite.org/scan.php?pid=161

1932-36 CRBC
1932 - First Parliamentary Committee on Broadcasting. Canadian Broadcasting Act creates the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC).
1936 - November 2, the Canadian Broadcasting Act replaces the CRBC with a Crown Corporation, the CBC. CBC takes over CRBC staff and facilities (eight publicly-owned or leased stations and 14 private affiliates).
Source CBC Radio History Milestones:
http://cbc.radio-canada.ca/history/index.shtml

Related links

Images of radios
http://www.radioattic.com/sold.php

US Radio History
http://earlyradiohistory.us/

Earliest Canadian Television Technologies overview

"Radio broadcasting was already more than a decade old when the Ouimet television (691044) was built in Montreal in 1932.  [.....]

"Radio station CKAC in Montreal began regular, live, experimental television broadcasts in 1932, although by this time only a handful of people had built or bought receivers to view them. In October thousands of curious viewers flocked to a public demonstration held by Canadian Television Ltd at the Ogilvy department store in Montreal. This was the Depression, however, and Canadian Television Ltd was unable to raise the funds to begin building sets and soon went out of business."

Source:  http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/collection/conn2.cfm


1947 The first TV networks
"1947: A permanent network linking four eastern U.S. stations is established by NBC. On June 3, Canadian General Electric engineers in Windsor receive the first official electronic television broadcast in Canada, transmitted from the new U.S. station WWDT in Detroit."
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv02eng.html
Some images of the first TVs! http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv01eng.html

1951 Massey Report recommends greater Federal involvement in media
"The Commission proposed the revamping of the CBC and the involvement of the federal government in national television; funds would come from the federal government. The Commission also proposed the creation of the National Library, of Radio-Canada International and to enlarge  the mandate of the National Film Board. A Canada Council for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities would also be set up."
Source:  Massey Report by Claude Bélanger
See also:  Royal commission on national development in the arts, letters and sciences 1949-1951

1951 Colour
1951: The first colour television transmissions begin in the U.S. this year. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, the several million existing black-and-white receivers in America cannot pick up the colour programmes, even in black-and-white, and colour sets go blank during television's many hours of black-and-white broadcasting. The experiment is a failure and colour transmissions are stopped.

1952 Cable Television
1952: Cable TV systems begin in Canada. On September 6, CBC Television broadcasts from its Montreal station; on September 8, CBC broadcasts from the Toronto station.
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv02eng.html

1953 Microwave Networks
1953: A microwave network connects CBC television stations in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
1958: The CBC's microwave network is extended from Victoria, B.C. to Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, to become the longest television network in the world.
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv02eng.html
Also see Canada's "National Television Microwave Network" as moment in Television history
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-1631-11238/science_technology/early_radio-tv/clip9

1956Recording
1956: Ampex Corporation demonstrates videotape recording, initially used only by television stations.
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv02eng.html

1957 Satellites
1957: The Soviet Union launches the world's first Earth satellite, Sputnik.
1962: The Telstar television satellite is launched by the U.S., and starts relaying transatlantic television shortly after its launch. The first programme shows scenes of Paris.
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv02eng.html


1966: Colour television signals are transmitted by Canadian stations for the first time.
"When a rainbow-hued butterfly flutters onto Canadian TV screens, it's a sensation. Colour broadcasting had finally come to Canada in September 1966, with a documentary about the bucking broncos of the Calgary Stampede."  Source and short TV documentary here:
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-1631-11239/science_technology/early_radio-tv/clip10


1952  First Canadian Broadcast to viewers used to American Content
"Although invented in a rudimentary form in the 1920s, it wasn't until the 1950s that television came into its own. In Canada, the CBC introduced its service on September 6, 1952, although several hundred thousand Canadians who lived within range of the American signals south of the border already owned television sets. The CBC's debut was somewhat inauspicious. The flickering test pattern of an Indian surrounded by a geometric design was broadcast upside-down. The test pattern was followed by an urgent new item, flashing the pictures of two men who had just robbed a bank. Next came the puppet show, Uncle Chichimus. Then, at last, the first moving, talking Canadian face appeared: meteorologist Percy Saltzman, telling us about the weather."
Source:  http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv03eng.html

1953 Canadian Content Too Intellectual
Television also caused something of a mini-boom in culture and education in Canada. Canadian programming, at least in the early days, tended to be quite different from American programming. Canadian programming was more serious and intellectual, and included Shakespearean dramas, panel discussions on Canadian literature, science series, public affairs debates, and folk-singing shows. Most Canadian programmes were shunned, however, because what Canadian audiences wanted was American programming. Canadian networks were not allowed to broadcast these, however, until early 1953.
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/hist/tv/tv03eng.html

Canada's "National Television Microwave Network"
"July 1, 1958, will be another Dominion Day to remember. Just as Canadians coast to coast were connected by the miracle of radio on July 1, 1927, they'll be brought together 31 years later by another technological wonder: the microwave network. The network can send a TV signal across the country in 1/50th of a second. On the eve of the network's launch, CBC Television's Scan shows off the marvel that brings live TV to all of Canada."
Source: http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-1631-11238/science_technology/early_radio-tv/clip9

Television History
http://www.tvhistory.tv/