October 5

This Day in History

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Lead Story
First presidential speech on TV, 1947
American Revolution
Washington informs Congress of espionage, 1775
Automotive
Enzo Ferrari makes his debut as a race car driver, 1919
Civil War
Union scores a victory at the Battle of Allatoona, 1864
Cold War
Iran-Contra scandal unravels, 1986
Crime
The Dalton gang performs their last robbery attempt, 1892
Disaster
Blimp crashes in France, 1930
General Interest
Tecumseh defeated, 1813
Chief Joseph surrenders, 1877
Cuban defector lands MiG in Miami, 1969
American circumnavigates the globe on foot, 1974
Dalai Lama wins Peace Prize, 1989
Apple founder Steve Jobs dies, 2011
Hollywood
Henry & June is first NC-17 film, 1990
Literary
Isaac Singer wins Nobel Prize, 1978
Music
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch earn a #1 hit with "Good Vibrations", 1991
Old West
The Dalton Gang is wiped out in Coffeyville, Kansas, 1892
Presidential
Chester Arthur is born, 1829
Sports
Yanks win their fifth series in a row, 1953
Vietnam War
South Vietnamese generals plan coup, 1963
President Johnson under fire from his own party, 1964
World War I
Britain and France commit troops to operation in Salonika, Greece, 1915
World War II
"Stalingrad must not be taken by the enemy.", 1942

Lead Story

Oct 5, 1947:

First presidential speech on TV

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On this day in 1947, President Harry Truman (1884-1972) makes the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House, asking Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans. At the time of Truman's food-conservation speech, Europe was still recovering from World War II and suffering from famine. Truman, the 33rd commander in chief, worried that if the U.S. didn't provide food aid, his administration's Marshall Plan for European economic recovery would fall apart. He asked farmers and distillers to reduce grain use and requested that the public voluntarily forgo meat on Tuesdays, eggs and poultry on Thursdays and save a slice of bread each day. The food program was short-lived, as ultimately the Marshall Plan succeeded in helping to spur economic revitalization and growth in Europe. In 1947, television was still in its infancy and the number of TV sets in U.S. homes only numbered in the thousands (by the early 1950s, millions of Americans owned TVs); most people listened to the radio for news and entertainment. However, although the majority of Americans missed Truman's TV debut, his speech signaled the start of a powerful and complex relationship between the White House and a medium that would have an enormous impact on the American presidency, from how candidates campaigned for the office to how presidents communicated with their constituents. Each of Truman's subsequent White House speeches, including his 1949 inauguration address, was televised. In 1948, Truman was the first presidential candidate to broadcast a paid political ad. Truman pioneered the White House telecast, but it was President Franklin Roosevelt who was the first president to appear on TV--from the World's Fair in New York City on April 30, 1939. FDR's speech had an extremely limited TV audience, though, airing only on receivers at the fairgrounds and at Radio City in Manhattan.

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This Week in History, Oct 5 - Oct 11

Oct 05, 1947
First presidential speech on TV
Oct 06, 1866
First U.S. train robbery
Oct 07, 2003
Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes California governor
Oct 08, 1871
Great Chicago Fire begins
Oct 09, 1967
Che Guevara is executed
Oct 10, 1985
Achille Lauro hijacking ends
Oct 11, 2002
Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Prize

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