Couch Potatoes Unite!

Television made its way onto the American scene on April 7, 1927 thereby changing the way in which we view the world.

[A] group of newspaper reporters and dignitaries gathered at the AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories auditorium in New York City to see the first American demonstration of something new: television. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover provided the “entertainment,” as his live picture and voice were transmitted over telephone lines from Washington, D.C., to New York.

“Today we have, in a sense, the transmission of sight for the first time in the world’s history,” Hoover said. “Human genius has now destroyed the impediment of distance in a new respect, and in a manner hitherto unknown.”

Here, you can view a simulation of the picture quality as well as film footage demonstrating the broadcast itself. We've certainly come a long way since then.