Interesting facts about TV. Interesting facts, amazing facts, unknown facts in the museum of facts Black and white or color

In which country did they try to prevent the development of color television due to fears of social stratification?

When color televisions appeared in Israel in the 1970s, the government considered them an unjustified luxury that contributed to social stratification, and ordered television channels to continue broadcasting in black and white and to remove the color component from imported programs and films. To do this, the so-called sync pulse was suppressed at television stations, which is why a special module in television receivers interpreted color as noise and removed it. However, engineers immediately came up with an “anti-canceller” device, which was sold in stores for 10% of the price of a new TV. The inconvenience was that about once every 15 minutes the color disappeared, and viewers had to turn a special knob to restore it. A few years later, officials discovered that the vast majority of spectators had purchased anti-suppressants and lifted the ban.

What kind of person went on to interview for the position of IT specialist and became a TV star?

On May 8, 2006, an emigrant from the Republic of Congo named Guy Goma appeared on a live broadcast of the BBC news channel, although he came to the television center for an interview for the position of an IT specialist. Expert Guy Cuney, who was actually supposed to be interviewed, was in another waiting room, but due to erroneous tips from an assistant, a BBC employee invited Goma into the studio. He realized that there was a mistake when the presenter had already introduced him as Cuny, but he was not taken aback and answered all the questions about downloading music from the Internet. After this incident, Goma became a local TV star and took part in many TV shows on different channels, but never got a job at the BBC.

Where and when did coughing become the reason for the charges and court sentence?

In 2001, Charles Ingram won the British TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, winning a million pounds. However, the payment was delayed when he, as well as his wife and accomplice Tecwen Whittock, who were present at the filming, were suspected of cheating. It turned out that Wittock coughed every time the presenter, listing the answers, said the correct one. All three denied evil intent, but were found guilty by the court and fined, and also received suspended sentences of 12 to 18 months.

What does Bradbury think is the point of Fahrenheit 451?

The main topic In the novel Fahrenheit 451, most readers believe that individuality is suppressed through government censorship, but Ray Bradbury himself states that this perception is incorrect. The author's main message is the danger of television, which destroys interest in reading literature, replacing it with entertainment, and deep knowledge with superficial “factoids.”

Which prisoners unwittingly executed themselves in the electric chair?

There are two cases in the history of American prisons when defendants had their sentences changed from death penalty to life imprisonment, but death from electricity still found them. In 1989, Michael Anderson Godwin gave himself the electric chair by sitting on a metal toilet in his cell while repairing his television. The short circuit occurred when he cut through the wiring. In 1997, a similar incident happened to Lawrence Baker - he also sat on a metal toilet while watching TV with homemade headphones.

Where and when did television viewers witness suicide in live?

In 1974, American television journalist Christine Chubbuck committed suicide live on Florida's WXLT-TV. Chubbuck was responsible for producing crime and murder news. At the eighth minute of her next talk show, there was a problem - the story about the shooting in the restaurant was not aired. Then the journalist said: “In accordance with the channel’s policy of broadcasting the most brutal scenes in bright colors, you will become the first witnesses to a suicide attempt,” after which [the information was deleted at the request of Roskomnadzor].

Why do Berliners call the city's TV tower "the Pope's revenge"?

Just above the middle of the Berlin TV tower, built in 1965, is a stainless steel ball. When the sun illuminates it, a reflection in the form of a cross appears on the ball. In this regard, Berliners gave several witty nicknames to the tower, hinting at the persecution of the church and the cultivation of atheism during the years of the GDR. Among them is “the pope’s revenge”, another option is the Church of St. Walter - an ironic reference to the name of Walter Ulbricht, who led the GDR for twenty years.

What surprise did Muse give when they were forced to play along to a soundtrack?

Once the group Muse was invited to perform on Italian television, but was forced to do it with a soundtrack. The musicians did not boycott the performance, but switched roles. Lead singer and guitarist Matthew Bellamy sat down at the drums, drummer Dominic Howard stood behind the microphone with a bass guitar, and bass guitarist Chris Wolstenholme took up the guitar and stood at the keyboard. And after performing the song, the drummer also answered questions as a frontman.

Why was the chiming clock on television delayed for a minute when celebrating the New Year of 1992?

At the end of 1991, there was complete confusion with the New Year's address to the people. Gorbachev was formally the president of the USSR, but he no longer decided anything, and Yeltsin was also unable to congratulate him for unknown reasons. The honorary role was offered to Mikhail Zadornov, who was the presenter of “Blue Light”. The satirist spoke live and got so carried away that he spoke a minute longer. For his sake, the chimes were delayed.

How many times does the average American police officer shoot during his career?

According to statistics, the average American police officer uses his service weapon once every 27 years during his career. And in television series, the average police officer shoots to kill at least 10 times.

What game has found a second life thanks to color television?

The billiard game snooker declined in the mid-20th century. However, interest in it increased greatly again after the BBC chose it to demonstrate the advantages of color television and began broadcasting all championships. The green table and multi-colored snooker balls were perfect for this purpose.

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 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.

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.

The first experimental transmissions 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 toilet paper production crisis in the country and that supplies in stores were 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 the new technology, they can easily switch from black and white to color mode. To do this, he had to put a nylon stocking on the TV, which he demonstrated live.

The .tv domain that TV channel sites like to register with is not a generic domain like .com or .org. It belongs to the small state of 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.

TV ( televisorium translated as “to see far”) is an electronic device that receives and transmits image and sound via wireless channels or cable. And the most important thing is that people love TV so much that they simply cannot imagine their life without it.

To be honest, it’s hard to imagine that nowadays someone doesn’t have a TV at home. It happens that there may be more than one TV in a house or apartment. And it doesn’t matter at all what model the TV is: either it’s a huge plasma that covers the entire wall, or it’s small and black and white.

Yes, what can I say, a typical evening for many, even working people, is the same: they come home from work, have dinner, turn on the TV and watch their favorite films or TV series. And if there is also a TV in the kitchen, then in general you can do two things at once - watch TV while eating dinner. Perhaps it’s just a habit that people have developed. Who knows. But you know, many people sometimes lack some thrill in life or adrenaline, so they watch a horror film or thriller. In this way, they compensate for the lack of sharpness in Everyday life, and without leaving home) As they say, they tickle their nerves :)

And today we will tell you about interesting facts related to TV:

  1. In Sweden in 1962 there was only one channel, which was black and white. And one technical expert of the channel (apparently with a good sense of humor :)) reported on television live that new technology switching to color mode - for this you need to put a nylon stocking on your head, which, in fact, he did personally.
  2. In the old era, when there was only black and white television, the cameras had red filters that turned the image green, so instead of red lipstick, actresses and announcers had their lips painted green.
  3. The origin of the phrase "soap opera" dates back to 1930, when American radio featured multi-part series with tearful stories that were mainly listened to by housewives, and their sponsors were manufacturers of soap and detergents, here is the answer to where this phrase came from.
  4. Until the 1970s, all programs and broadcasts were broadcast live, because at that time there was no such video recording technology as there is now. Poor presenters and announcers - after all, if they made a mistake, then the whole country saw it.
  5. In Finland in 1980 it was banned from showing the Soviet cartoon “Well, wait a minute!” that we all loved. This was motivated by the fact that this cartoon is excessively cruel, because main character The Hare, a real sadist, who always created painful situations for the Wolf. Just like that, here's the turn
  6. In Germany, on New Year's Eve on December 31, 1986, the German television channel ARD mistakenly showed last year's New Year's address from Chancellor Helmut Kohl. I can imagine how much such a mistake would cost any channel nowadays)
  7. A well-known person, Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich, is included in the Guinness Book of Records for being the host of the longest-living program “Film Travel Club.”
  8. An American teenager in modern times spends 12 thousand hours studying at school, and 14 thousand hours watching TV. Now it’s clear why there are so many bad students))
  9. The average Japanese sits in front of the TV 9 hours a day - this is necessary and apparently the tailbone does not hurt)
  10. Watching color TV is less harmful than watching black and white: bright colors stimulate the color-perceiving apparatus of the eye, removing part of the load from the accommodative muscles.
  11. At the end of 1991, there was complete confusion with the New Year's address to the people. Gorbachev was formally the president of the USSR, but he no longer decided anything, and Yeltsin was also unable to congratulate him for unknown reasons. The honorary role was offered to Mikhail Zadornov, who was the presenter of “Blue Light”. The satirist spoke live and got so carried away that he spoke a minute longer. For his sake, the chimes were delayed. It happens)

The fact that in our time television has become an integral source of information for any age group of people is of course good, but it is still better not to abuse the large amount of time we spend in front of the TV, because it does not have a very good effect on the psyche and health. Don't forget to take a break from time to time blue screens and stroll on fresh air

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, became large volumes be released in the USA.

4. The television era in the USA began with 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 is ingrained television programs during meals, indigestion is 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 high refresh rates (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 cutting-edge models of this technique miraculously help relieve stress 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 an educational book, play sports, take a walk in the 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.


Television plays an important role in life modern man. During last century it provides people with news, entertains them, makes them laugh, cry, or even scares 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 appeared in more than 800 commercials for his 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 Wilde 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, under which the glasses were shown in almost 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 shown during the episode TV series 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 - American comedy series, which aired for 11 years (1989 - 1988). Every episode has a hidden Superman.