- Korean War
- Coronation of Queen Elizabeth (Important event in the evolution of British TV; first time tv had a bigger audience then radio's.
- ‘The Grove Family’ (First British soap for adults. About a couple who struggle to build a home for their family after the war. Had ¼ of the population as its audience)
- First Daily TV news programme: US segregation made illegal in USA.
- US starts sending $216 million in aid to Vietnam.
- Average UK annual salary £101. USA average annual salary $2992
- ITV starts broadcasting (Ends BBC’s monopoly. Has commercials)
- Montgomery bus boycott (US civil rights movement)
- Suez crisis (Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns as a result )
- Black and White Minstrel show
- ITV screens the Arm Chair Theatre (represents the real working class in contrast to the BBC’s more conventional plays)
- Television cameras are allowed inside the PM's residence for the first time
- The growth of the 'Nuclear Families'
- End of Hollywood's Golden Age.
1960s
- JFK takes over as president from Nixon.
- Introduction of the contraceptive pill. o ’62: Marylyn Monroe found dead (Drug overdose – age 36)
- JFK assassinated
- Nelson Mandela sentenced to imprisonment
- Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho terrifies audiences and becomes one of the year's most successful films, as well as one of the most memorable psychological thrillers
- Lee Harvey Oswald, accused Kennedy assassin, is shot and killed by Jack Ruby - Viewers tuned into NBC witness Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on camera – the first live telecast of a murder.
- BBC Two Launch- 20/4/1964- The opening night of BBC Two is wrecked by a power failure that throws London into chaos and takes down Television Centre.
- Apollo 11 astronauts—Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., —take first walk on the Moon (July 20).
- the 'Age of Youth' which were the children from the post war of the 'Baby Boom'.
- Issue such as racism and women became important in America
1970s
- Break up of the Beatles
- Death of Elvis
- Roots (Programme about the slavery of African Americans
- Thatcher Elected (Conservative party – ‘Iron lady’ – First female Prime Minister)
- Newsround- 4/4/1972- In the first news programme specifically for children
- The world's first teletext system is devised by BBC technicians, who realised that digital signals could be broadcast with analogue transmissions.
- Steven Spielberg's Jaws will be the first film to earn more than $100 million
- The Steadicam is used for the first time in Rocky.
- Rap music goes beyond the streets of New York.
- The earthquake that happened in Peru, which killed 50,000 people.
- Tonga and Figi gained independence from Britain
- The God Father (1972)- the number one gangster film ever made.
1980s
- Women Cops: Shows on BBC1 and ITV showing taking proper notice of female cops (women have been policewoman since 1949)
- Brixton race riots
- Launch of satellite TV John Lennon of the Beatles shot dead in New York City
- Prince Charles and Lady Diana Wed- A worldwide TV audience of 750 million watch the Royal wedding,
- Channel 4 Launches
- Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which sells more than 25 million copies, becoming the biggest-selling album in history
- The Simpsons, animated cartoon, introduced on Fox TV.
- Sky launches the UK's first satellite television service, with four channels: Sky Channel, Eurosport, Sky Movies and Sky News.
- The Falklands War: Britain declared a war on Argentina.
- John Paul II signed a new Roman catholic code which had new changes by the second vatican council.
1990s
- Thatcher steps down, is succeeded by John Majoro
- 'Black Wednesday: (Britain crashed out of the ERM – Huge devaluation of the £ - Gov loses £22bn)
- Gaytime TV: On the BBC for gays and lesbians.
- Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister – Labour (more women mps)
- Channel 5 launches
- For the first time a cartoon, Beauty and the Beast, is up for best picture Oscar
- Toy Story is the first totally digital feature-length film
- President blocks ban on late-term abortions
- Viagra Goes on Sale
- Men across Britain get a new lease of life as the British-based firm Pfizer releases a new treatment for impotence.
- Iraq invades Kuwait (the Gulf War)
- Sheindler's List- directed by Steven Spielberg, which has won him an Oscar.
2000s
