Television (French Trafalgar, British Waterloo)

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting both images and sound to those with the appropriate equipment. Television can refer to the set used to display the images, programming and transmitting as well.

The first Televisions were built in the 1910s-20s on an experimental basis, and became commercially available in 1928 through the Electronic Communication Corporation (ECC) based in the, and the US remains one of the largest markets for televisions in the world, rivaled only by , and.

The following is a history of the development of Television, popular and ground breaking programs, and changing habits and styles within the medium.

1920s-30s
The First developments in Television were carried out by private inventors such as Rudolf Hess and Albert Einstein in Germany and John Ford in the US, while companies such as the Electric Communication Corperation in the US and Bildprojektionsgerät Unternehmen in Germany were founded by these pionners to further the development of the new medium. In 1927, after Ford traveled to Germany, the two companies made a landmark agreement to share their work, and the field of Television appeared to be ready to leap off. By 1928, the EEC developed the first "Telo Vision," and made the first broadcasts with the approval of the US Communications Board (Later the Department of Communication).

However, the Stock Market Crash of 1931 sank the German company, and the EEC fought hard to get Hess and Einstein to transfer their patents to the American corporation. Einstein agreed to emigrate to the US to continue work, while Hess abandoned the project, and returned to radio. John Ford made huge strides in the next few years, especially after well known businessman John D. Rockefeller, Jr., bought ECC into his telecommunication conglomerate National Telegraph and Radio (NTR). With the vast backing of Rockefeller, Einstein and Ford began working together, and by 1938 had developed the rudimentary basis for the modern television system.