1577 - James Burbage opened first theatre in London.

1581 - Catherine De Medici commissioned first ballet, "Ballet Comique de la Reine," in Paris, to celebrate betrothal of her sister.

October 12, 1609 - Thomas Ravenscroft, London teenage songwriter, published "Three Blind Mice".

1618 - Avedis I discovered secret process for treating alloys (fusing of copper, tin and silver), applied it to art of making cymbals of extraordinary clarity; used in Turkey for daily calls to prayer, religious feasts, royal weddings, Ottoman army. Sultan Osman II called Zildjian founder of craft of Turkish cymbal making, bestows name 'Zildjian' (cymbal smith in Armenian); 1623 - Sultan Murad IV allows Avedis to leave Ottoman palace to start cymbal foundry ouside Constantinople; 1929 - Avedis Zildjian III left candy business, incorporated, opened cymbal factory in Quincy, MA; 1930 - developed close relationship with Gene Krupa, made thinner marching cymbals to adapt to emerging drum set; invented and named many of the cymbals used in modern drumming (splash, ride, crash, hi-hat, sizzle cymbals).

March 23, 1743 - George Frideric Handel's oratorio ''Messiah'' had London premiere.

May 31, 1759 - Lawmakers in Pennsylvania adopted law forbidding the performance of plays, in response to pressure from religious groups, particularly Baptists, who found theatrical performances immoral; fined 500 pounds if found guilty.

August 3, 1778 - The opera house La Scala (Teatro alla Scala) opened in Milan, Italy, with a performance of Antonio Salieri's ''Europa riconosciuta.''.

May 1, 1786 - Mozart's opera ''The Marriage of Figaro'' premiered in Vienna.

October 29, 1787 - Mozart's opera Don Giovanni received its first performance in Prague.

May 27, 1796 - James Sylvanus McLean, of New Jersey, received first U.S. patent for "Piano Forte"; September 18, 1769 - Boston Gazette described first piano-like instrument, known in the U.S. was called a spinet, built by John Harris.

March 11, 1818 - "Frankenstein", or The Modern Prometheus, published; written by 21-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, frequently called the world's first science fiction novel. In Shelley's tale, a scientist animates a creature constructed from dismembered corpses. The gentle, intellectually gifted creature is enormous and physically hideous. Cruelly rejected by its creator, it wanders, seeking companionship and becoming increasingly brutal as it fails to find a mate; story explores philosophical themes and challenges Romantic ideals about the beauty and goodness of nature.

February 7, 1827 - French danseuse Mme. Francisquy Hutin introduced ballet to U.S. with performance of "The Deserter" at Bowery Theater.

February 27, 1827 - First Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.

April 5, 1827 - James H. Hackett became first American actor to appear abroad as he performed at Covent Garden in London, England.

1833 - Christian F. Martin Sr. set up luthier shop in New York City; first guitar maker to craft Stauffer style headstock in America; 1840s - created, perfected X-bracing to give strength to guitar top to handle pressure of taut strings, heavy playing while still maintaining very high quality Martin tone (still considered best bracing pattern, imitated by luthiers around world); 1873 - C. F. Martin Jr. took command; 1888 - Frank Henry Martin (22, grandson) assumed control; 1890s - began production of mandolins; 1917 - built first steel-string Hawaiian guitars played with steel bar; 1918 - discontinued use of elephant ivory, used celluloid ("ivoroid"); 1922 - first line of guitars for steel strings; 1845 - C. F. Martin III (great grandson) took over; 1969 - discontinued hard-to-obtain Brazilian rosewood for most stock models, replaced with rosewood from East India; 1986 - C. F. "Chris" Martin IV (great great grandson) took over; 1990 - completed 500,00th guitar; 1999 - completed 700,00th guitar; 2004 - completed 1,000,000th guitar.

November 17, 1839 - Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, "Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio", debuted in Milan at La Scala, Italy's most prestigious theater.

December 7, 1842 - New York Philharmonic gave first concert.

March 21, 1846 - Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax, of Paris, FR, received a French patent for a new System of wind instruments called Saxophones ("instrument, which by the character of its voice can be reconciled with the stringed instruments, but which possesses more force and intensity than the strings...able to change the volume of its sounds better than any other instrument").

November 22, 1847 - Astor Place Opera House, New York City's first operatic theater, opened.

June 19, 1849 - Charles Austin, of Concord, NH, received a patent for a "Melodeon Reed"; melodeon, small reed organ, with treadle-operated bellows to draw air through the reeds.

1853 - Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, German immigrant, master cabinetmaker, founded Steinway & Sons in Manhattan loft; first piano sold for $500; 1864 - name anglicized, Steinway; William Steinway (son) builtnew showrooms housing over 100 pianos; 1866 - opened Steinway Hall in back of showrooms, became New York City’s artistic, cultural center; 1972 - acquired by CBS; 1985 - acquired by Steinway Musical Properties Inc.; 1988 - made 500,000th piano; 1995 - Steinway Musical Properties merged with Selmer Company, formed Steinway Musical Instruments; 1996 - renamed Steinway Musical Instruments, went public.

January 19, 1853 - Verdi's opera ''Il Trovatore'' premiered in Rome.

December 5, 1854 - Aaron H. Allen, of Boston, MA, received a patent for an "Opera Chair" (a "Seat for Public Buildings", a "new and Improved Self-Adjusting Opera Seat"); folding chair for theatres or other public buildings; pivoted seat constructed with weights or springs to assume and retain a vertical position when pressure upon it is relieved as the occupant rises from it.

October 9, 1855 - Joshua C. Stoddard of Worcester, MA, received a patent for a "Musical Instrument" ("Apparatus for Producing Music by Steam or Compressed Air"); a calliope; consisted of 15 whistles, of graduated sizes, attached in a row to the top of a small steam boiler, a long cylinder with pins of different shapes driven into it so that when the cylinder revolved, the pins pressed the valves and blew the whistles in proper sequence; later, Stoddard replaced the cylinder with a keyboard; wires running from the keys to the valves enabled the operator to play the instrument like a piano.

1856 - Rudolph Wurlitzer founded The Wurlitzer Company; imported musical instruments and opened sales outlets in all big American cities; 1880 - started production of pianos in America; 1896  - 'Tonophone', first coin-operated piano, 
introduced; 1933 - first jukebox built.

August 12, 1856 - Anthony Faas, of Philadelphia, PA, received a patent for an "Accordion".

February 5, 1861 - Coleman Sellers, of Philadelphia, PA, received a patent for "Exhibiting Stereoscopic Pictures of Moving Objects"; kinematoscope - a photographic attempt to show motion (box in which rolled film moves past a light);  inventor wished to show pictures such as human motion or the revolving wheels of machinery.

February 5, 1861 - Samuel D. Goodale, of Cincinnati, OH, received a patent for a "Stereoscope"; first peep show machine; Mutoscope was operated by hand and gave a stereoscopic image; pictures were fastened by one edge to an axis in such a way that they stood out like spokes; different images appeared to present an image in motion as the shaft rotated.

April 23, 1867 - William E. Lincoln, of Providence, RI, received a patent for a "Toy"; Zoetrope; machine showed animated pictures by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel; appeared to move when viewed through a slit; became standard fixtures in entertainment arcades of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

May 1, 1869 - Folies Bergere opened in Paris.

August 10, 1869 - O. B. Brown, of Malden, MA, received a patent for an "Optical Instrument" ("by means of which figures represented in different relative attitudes are seen successively, so as to produce the appearance of objects in motion"); moving picture projector.

February 5, 1870 - Henry R. Heyl, using his Phasmatrope, presented animated photographic picture projection before  theatre audience in Philadelphia for first time; disc with 16 openings near the edge, each carrying a photographic plate rotated in front of converted projecting lantern ; series of plates showed dancers who appeared to move as rotating disc showed successive positions; pictures were continuous loop that did not change.

November 21, 1877- Inventor Thomas A. Edison unveiled the phonograph (to record, play back sound);  experimented with stylus on tinfoil cylinder; December 6, 1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrated first sound recording at his Menlo Park Laboratory; recited "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into a large horn which transmitted vibrations to a needle which scribed a recording on a cylinder rotated by hand; first surviving recording of the human voice.

February 19, 1878 - Edison received patent for a "Phonograph of Speaking Machine"; phonograph; used spirally grooved, tinfoil–coated cylinder with mouthpiece for recording sound by scratching "hill–and–dale" impressions in the foil with an attached needle; crank rotated the cylinder; funnel horn replaced mouthpiece for listening; established Edison Speaking Phonograph Co. (5 stockholders including Gardiner G. Hubbard, Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law.

February 17, 1880 - Emile Berliner, of Boston, MA, received a patent for a "Microphone".

December 20, 1880 - New York's Broadway first lighted by electricity and became known as the "Great White Way" as Charles F. Brush successfully demonstrated his arc lamps along Broadway (preceded Edison's incandescent light bulb in commercial use).

June 14, 1881 - John McTammany, Jr., of Cambridge, MA, received a patent for a "Mechanical Musical Instrument"; player piano; mechanism for automatic playing of organs using narrow sheets of perforated flexible paper which governed the notes to be played; February 27, 1879 - Edward H. Leveaux received English patent for Angelus, first completely automatic piano player; February 1897 - first to be manufactured in the U.S.; October 4, 1881 -received U.S. patent for an "apparatus for storing and transmitting motive power."

September 30, 1881 - Clement Adler received a German patent for first stereo system, telephonic broadcasting service.

October 4, 1881 - Edward H. Leveaux, of Sussex, UK, received a patent for an "Apparatus for Storing and Transmitting Motive Power"; first completely automatic piano player manufactured in the U.S.

May 1, 1883 - Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) staged his first Wild West Show; July 4, 1883 - staged outdoor event, called the "Wild West, Rocky Mountain, and Prairie Exhibition" in North Platte, NE; May 9, 1887 - opened in London at Earls Court show ground, gave Queen Victoria, her subjects first look at real cowboys and Indians; 1913 - show collapsed from financial pressures

October 22, 1883 - Original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held grand opening with performance of Gounod's ''Faust.''.

March 26, 1885 - Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company of Rochester, NY manufactured commercial motion-picture film negatives; first film produced in continuous strips on reels.

February 3, 1886 - Alexander Graham Bell, associates incorporated Volta Graphophone Co. in Virginia to demonstrate, promote the graphophone; 1886 - Bell & Charles Sumner Tainter established American Graphophone Co. to manufacture, sell graphophones in United States, Canada under license from Volta Graphophone Co.; Jesse H. Lippincott, Pittsburgh businessman who had made a lot of money in glass business, acquired exclusive right to rent or sell the Graphophone under Bell and Tainter patents.

February 12, 1889 - Thomas Edison received a patent for a "Phonograph" ("to permit of the use upon the tapering phonogram-cylinder of the phonograph of slightly-tapering or true cylindrical phonograms, such as paper cylinders covered with indenting material").

September 30, 1890 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Phonograph" ("means for providing a double record of matter to be recorded by the phonograph, so that one record can be preserved while the other is sent to the person for whom the matter is intended"); received a second patent for a "Phonograph" ("use of flexible phonogram-blanks which may be sheets of flexible material capable of being indented by the recording point of the phonograph"); received a patent for a "Phonograph-Recorder" ("recorder of my improved phonograph is provided with a cutting-tool recording-point presenting a cutting-edge in advance of the stock of the tool"); received a third patent for a "Phonograph" ("to increase the effectiveness and convenience in use of the phonograph...to provide means for indicating upon the record a point at which a pause is made in dictating to the instrument...and to provide means for removing from the phonogram-surface the fine chips or shavings which are produced by the cutting action of the recording-point"); received a patent for a "Method of Making Phonogram-Blanks ("to simplify the construction of phonogram-blanks. to make them more durable, and especially to so construct them that they shall not crack by reason of expansion or contraction due to large changes in temperature to which they are often subjected"); received a second patent for a "Phonogram Blank".

June 9, 1891 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Phonograph" ("adjusting a phonograph reproducing-point into exact alignment with the phonogram-record").

September 29, 1891 - Thomas A. Edison, of Menlo Park, NJ, received a patent for a ""Phonogram-Blank Carrier" ("devices for supporting and protecting phonogram-blanks or recording-surfaces on which a phonographic recording has been or is to be recorded").

1893 - Emile Berliner established United States Gramophone Company in Washington, DC; caretaker of rights to 1887 patent.

February 1, 1893 - Thomas Edison opened America's first film-production studio, "Black Maria" (aka Kinetographic Theater after Kinetograph, forerunner of movie camera), in West Orange, NJ on grounds of Edison's laboratories; dark room covered in tar paper with retractable roof built at cost of $637.67; 1903 - demolished.

1894 - Orville Gibson, restaurant clerk in Kalamazoo, MI, began making mandolins, guitars in his home workshop; 1902 - group of Kalamazoo businessmen organized The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Co., Ltd. (Orville Gibson not a partner); initially focused on mandolins; maintained industry leadership role as musical tastes changed to banjo (1920s), guitar (1930s); 1923 -name changed to Gibson, Inc.; 1935 - introduced its first electric guitar; 1952 - introduced Les Paul Model, company's first solidbody electric guitar; 1994 - acquired Slingerland Company.

July 2, 1895 - Thomas A. Edison received two patents for a "Phonograph" ("to enable such devices to work satisfactorily not withstanding irregularities in the surface of the phonogram blank or recording surface").

October 5, 1895 - Emile Berliner (minority stock holder) established Berliner Gramophone Company of Philadelphia, PA (owned copyright for 1887, 1888, 1895 patents), with help of group of businessmen in Philadelphia who invested $25,000.00; produced records and record playing machines; October 29, 1895 - Berliner received a patent for a "Sound Record and Method of Making Same" ("production of copies or duplicates of the flat sound-records as made by gramophone"); 1896 - signed contract with Eldridge Johnson to manufacture improved spring motor for an improved gramophone (developed by machinist Levi Montross).

December 28, 1895 - Birth of film industry: French film pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumiére publicly unveiled their camera/projector, the Cinématographe (first real cinema) at the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris;  about 30 people paid to see short films showing scenes from ordinary French life (feeding of a baby, game of cards, street activity, working blacksmith, soldiers marching); brothers made 2,000 short films during the next five years.

1896 - Charles Jenkins lost Phantoscope patent dispute to Thomas Armat (declared joint vs. sole patent); sold his interest; Armat altered improved Phantoscope, renamed it Vitascope; sold rights to Edison, who marketed the invention; became basis of Thomas Edison's Vitascope projector; George Eastman's invention of roll film, followed by transparency film, enabled the same camera to make multiple photographs in a series.

January 12, 1897 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Phonograph" (two-point recorder or reproducer adapted to make or travel in a double track or on a phonogram-blank or recording-surface").

May 16, 1897 - Stuart Blackton, Albert E. Smith, of newly formed Vitagraph film company, shot their first fictional film, The Burglar. on the Roof, on roof of New York City building; company flourished in silent film era, introduced future stars like Rudolph Valentino, Norma Talmadge; 1925 - acquired by Warner Bros.

June 14, 1898 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Phonograph" ("means for throwing a phonograph-recorder out of operative position and throwing the reproducer into operative position, or vice versa, in that class of phonographs which have a separate diaphragm for the recorder and for the reproducer").

March 28, 1899 - William B. Fleming, of Detroit, MI, received a patent for "Electrical Action for Musical Instruments"; player piano using electricity.

July 18, 1899 - National Phonograph Company registered "Thomas A. Edison" trademark first used December 15, 1897 (phonographs, parts of phonographs, phonographblanks, and other phonographic supplies, such as the containing-cases).

October 4, 1899 - The Gramophone Company (founded 1897 by Emile Berliner) paid 50 pounds for Francis Barraud  painting of his dog, Nipper (titled "His Master's Voice"),, 50 pounds for copyright to painting; July 10, 1900 - Emile Berliner registered "His Master's Voice" trademark first used May 1900 (gramophones).

May 22, 1900 - Edwin S. Votey, of Detroit, MI, received a patent for a "Pneumatic Piano Attachment" ("to provide self-playing piano attachment of practical and economical construction which can be quickly applied to and removed from any piano"); pianola, first truly musical piano-playing device in world; August 29, 1905 - The Aeolian Company registered 'Pianola" trademark (pneumatically-controlled players for keyboard instruments).

September 1900 - Eldridge R. Johnson formed The Consolidated Talking Machine Co. to produced machines for playing disc records; October 3, 1901 - merged with US division of Emile Berliner's Berliner Gramophone Company (developed flat–disc records that could be mass-produced in hard rubber or shellac from a master record; lost legal battle over rights to manufacture flat-disc Gramophones), incorporated The Victor Talking Machine Company, leading American producer of phonographs, phonograph records, in Camden, NJ; March 24, 1914 - Victor Talking Machine Company registered "His Master's Voice" (HMV) trademark first used May 24, 1900 (sound recording or reproducing machines and parts thereof); 1924 - acquired controlling interest in Berliner Gram-o-phone Company, March 9, 1926 - Victor Talking Machine Company registered "Victor" trademark (radio apparatus, parts and appurtenances); March 15, 1929 - acquired by RCA.  

May 20, 1901 - Claude Grivolas, one of Pathe's main shareholders in Paris, France, invented projector that produced three-dimensional pictures.

June 11, 1901 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Phonographic Recording Apparatus" ("to relieve the diaphragm of all or substantially all stress now resulting from the pressure necessary to properly engage the cutting or recording tool with the record-surface to the requisite depth").

December 10, 1901 - Joseph W. Jones, of New York, NY, received a patent for "Production of Sound-Records" ("stylus vibrating laterally and engraving a groove of approximately uniform depth"); lateral disc recording in wax; acquired by Columbia.

1902 - Columbia Phonograph Co. acquired patents originally belonging to Joseph Jones, former Berliner employee; December 8, 1903 - cross-licensing agreement between the American Graphophone Company (Columbia) and Victor Talking Machine Co. (Berliner patents and Jones patents; ultimately not satisfactory for Victor); birth of phonographic industry; 1906 - American Graphophone company reorganized, name changed to Columbia Graphophone Company; leader in recording cylinders for coin-operated phonographs; first company to produce pre-recorded records (vs. blank cylinders); June 3, 1907 - new cross-licensing agreement;  1922 - sold British subsidiary, Columbia Phonograph Co., Ltd., to its London manager; Louis Sterling; 1923 - receivers appointed; 1925 - acquired by Columbia Gramophone Company of Great Britain (Sterling); reorganized it as as Columbia International in London, General Phonograph Co. Inc. in U. S.; 1931 - American Columbia operations sold due to anti-trust concerns to Grigsby Grunow Company (makers of the Majestic Radio); 1934 - acquired by American Record Corporation for $75,000; 1938 - acquired by Columbia Broadcasting System for $700,000. 

1902 - Amusement arcades began opening small storefront theaters called Nickelodeans (so called because admission cost 5 cents); showed short silent films (usually less than 15 minutes), accompanied by a live pianist; 1907 - some 2 million Americans had visited a Nickelodean.

March 10, 1902 - U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in Edison v. American Mutoscope Company that Thomas Edison did not invent movie camera; admitted that Edison invented sprocket system that moved perforated film through movie camera.

April 2, 1902 - Thomas L. Tally opened first permanent movie theater designed specifically for exhibition of films, 262 South Main Street in Los Angeles; dubbed "The Electric Theater"; earliest pictures included "New York in a Blizzard"; admission cost about 10 cents for one-hour show; Henry Miles of San Francisco began renting films to theaters, formed basis of today's film distribution system.

1903 - Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack L. Warner, sons of Benjamin Eichelbaum, immigrant Polish cobbler and peddler, began in film business as traveling exhibitors; moved throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania with portable projector; 1907 - operated Cascade Theatre, converted store in Newcastle, PA; 1908 - had acquired 200 film titles.

1904 - William Fox (born Wilhelm Fuchs) acquired 146-seat Brooklyn storefront Nickelodeon theatre for $1,660.67, started Greater New York Film Rental Company; 1912 - Supreme Court ruled against movie monopoly of Motion Picture Patents Company (Thomas Edison); 1913 - Theater "chain" pioneer William Fox (born Wilhelm Fuchs) established Greater New York Film Rental, distribution firm, Fox Office Attractions Company, production company.; 1915 - consolidated companies, formed Fox Film Corporation; concentrated on acquiring, building theaters; 1916 - moved company to 13 acres in Hollywood, CA; March 3, 1929 - acquired Loew's Corporation's 500 theatres (added to existing nationwide circuit of 1100 theatres), large equity position in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture Studios; July 1929 - Fox seriously injured in car accident; October 1929 - net worth valued over $400 million wiped out; 1930 - Fox forced out as CEO; May 31, 1935 - president Sidney Kent, new owners merged company with Twentieth Century Pictures, formed 20th Century Fox; 1936 - Fox forced into personal bankruptcy; 1942 - began jail time for felony conviction of bribing judge during bankruptcy proceedings; 1985 - Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation acquired by News Corporation; renamed Fox, Incorporated; 1989 - film production unit renamed the Fox Film Corporation; October 7, 1996 - Fox News Channel made its debut.

October 18, 1904 - Thomas Edison received a patent for "Photographic Film for Moving Picture Machines"; motion picture film.

May 23, 1905 - Thomas Edison received a patent for a "Process of Duplicating Phonographic Records" ("from a matrix or mold, and particularly to production of an improved master from which the matrices or molds are made").

April 6, 1906 - First animated cartoon copyrighted.

May 12, 1906 - One month after San Francisco's earthquake, Sarah Bernhardt performed role in Racine's intense verse drama "Phèdre" in opening of Cal Performances, Berkeley, CA performing arts organization, in grand open-air Greek Theatre in the Berkeley hills; Putnam's Monthly called it "one of the great performances in world dramatic history"; donated "Phèdre" proceeds to earthquake victims.

June 12, 1906 - John Ballance, of New York, NY, received a patent for "Combined Phonograph and Stereopticon"; sound movies.

August 9, 1906 - The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, NJ introduced the Victrola, first internal horn phonograph, for $200; instant success, produced over 500 machines by year's end; speaker horn, turntable mechanism totally concealed in cabinet made by Pooley Furniture Company of Philadelphia; set pattern of wood cabinetry enclosures later imitated by radios and television sets well into the 1950s; March 24, 1914 - registered "HIS MASTER'S VOICE" trademark first used May 24, 1900 (sound recording or reproducing machines and parts thereof, talking-machine needles, talking-machine horns and amplifiers, and talking-machine records). 

December 26, 1906 - World's first full-length feature film (70 minutes), 'Story of the Kelly Gang', presented in Town Hall at Melbourne, Australia (filmed at  cost of £450); subject was Ned Kelly, bandit who lived 1855 to 1880.

June 4, 1907 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Diaphragm for Talking-Machines" ("both for recording and producing...to provide an improved diaphragm that will be readily responsive to vibrations of comparatively great amplitude"); assigned to New Jersey Patent Company.

July 8, 1907 - Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. opened Ziegfeld Follies at the New York Theater's rundown roof garden; combination of creative visual spectacle, topical comedy and beautiful girls; $13,800 production netted over $130,000 at the box office; 1922 - 541 performances; 1924 - 520 performances; spent $170,000 on revue; 1931 - Follies ended.

November 28, 1907 - Scrap-metal dealer Eliezer Lazar Mayer (22, from Minsk, Russia)  opened 600-seat movie theater in converted burlesque house in Haverhill, MA; owned largest theater chain in New England; was distributing films within a few years; 1917 - started production company, became part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) through mergers, named general manager of MGM; 1918 - changed name to Louis B. Mayer; August 16, 1927 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corporation registered "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) trademark first used July 25, 1924 (motion-picture films); 1951 - Mayer ousted. 

1908 - Selig Film Manufacturing Company became first major film company to move to Los Angeles; 1909 - built first permanent film studio.

January 28, 1908 - Author and activist Julia Ward Howe, composer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," became first woman elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters.

July 14, 1908 - Biograph Pictures released D.W. Griffith's first film, The Adventures of Dollie; became most influential director of early cinema, played major role in growth of films as narrative medium.

September 9, 1908 - Leading movie studios (Biograph, Vitagraph, Edison Studio) created Motion Picture Patents Co. to consolidate control over fledgling movie industry:  refused to let other companies use their patented film equipment, distributed films only to theater owners who agreed to their terms; Kodak agreed to sell raw film stock only to members of the company; 1912 - U.S. government started cracking down on company for unfair trade practices;  1917 - company's power had dissolved.

1909 - Winsor McCay, newspaper cartoon artist, created Gertie the Dinosaur, first animated character to appear regularly on screen; 1918 - produced The Sinking of the Lusitania, first feature-length cartoon.

February 25, 1909 - Movie studios (Biograph, Vitagraph, Edison Studio, Pathe, others) began submitting films to New York-based Board of Censorship for review; self-policing body set up by movie studios to help avoid government censorship; made up of private citizens who screened movies and pointed out objectionable material;  1916 - changed  name to the National Board of Review.

March 31, 1909 - Gustav Mahler conducted New York Philharmonic for his first time.

April 12, 1909 - Carl Laemmle established Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP); defied Motion Picture Patent Company; fought more than 280 lawsuits from Patent Company; June 8, 1912 - Laemmle (Independent Motion Picture Company), Pat Powers (Powers Picture Company), Mark Dintenfass (Champion Films), Bill Swanson (American Éclair) merged studios, formed Universal Motion Picture Manufacturing Company; 1925 - name changed to Universal Pictures Company, Inc.

1910 - William and Theo Ludwig formed Ludwig & Ludwig in Chicago to manufacture foot pedals capable of playing faster tempos without loss of force or volume; 1929 - acquired by C. G. Conn Company (Elkhart, IN); 1937 - organized W. F. L. Drum Company; first product - Speed King Pedal; 1938 - Bill Ludwig, Jr. joined company; 1955 - acquired Ludwig-Leedy division of Conn Company, name changed to Ludwig Drum Company; 1966 - acquired Musser Marimba Company (manufacturers of vibes, marimbas, bells, chimes, xylophones); became total percussion company; 1981 - Ludwig Industries acquired by Selmer Company (synergy in school music markets).

October 8, 1910 - Several film exchanges established American Film Manufacturing to distribute films, compete against Motion Picture Patents Company; 1909 - Carol Laemmle established the Independent Motion Picture Company (had to buy film stock from overseas) - Motion Picture Patents Company filed 280 lawsuits filed against him.

July 19, 1911 - Pennsylvania became first state to pass laws censoring movies; first specifically allowing censorship by a government body; 1915 - U.S. Supreme Court upheld laws, agreed that government bodies may censor pictures; studios feared increased government censorship, began to censor their own films, established a self-policing association, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA); 1930 - adopted the Production Code.

August 8, 1911 - The newsreel became standard feature at American movie screenings; French film company Pathy begins releasing weekly black-and-white newsreels to theaters.  late 1920s - early sound newsreels appeared, Fox began using Movietone system (most well known reels - only newsreel producer to capture 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 1937 explosion of Hindenburg); 1948 - color newsreels first appeared.

February 2, 1912 - World's first movie stuntman, Frederick Rodman Law, performed for a newsreel; jumped off Statue of Liberty with a parachute.

June 1, 1912 - Adolph Zukor created Famous Players Film Company; 1905 - partnered with Marcus Loew, developed Loew's cinema chain; July 12, 1912  - opened "Queen Elizabeth", a 4-reel film (first full-length drama shown in US); 1916 - merged with Jesse L. Lasky Company; began using Paramount name.

June 2, 1912 - Carl Laemmle merged his movie studio,  Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP, started in 1909), with several others; created Hollywood's first major studio, Universal; 1915 - studio bought a 230-acre lot and founded Universal City in San Fernando Valley; 1962 - acquired by MCA; 1991 - Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. purchased MCA; 1995 - sold the company to The Seagram Co.; 1996 - company was renamed Universal Studios ; 2004 - GE, parent company of NBC, has owned 80 percent of the company; the remaining 20 percent is owned by Vivendi, which acquired Seagram's entertainment holdings in 2000.

July 12, 1912 - The first foreign-made film premiered in America, "Queen Elizabeth", starred Sarah Bernhardt, Lon Tellegen.

August 16, 1912 - U.S. government sued the Motion Picture Patents Company; week later, court ruled that company could not claim exclusive rights to machines used in movie cameras; ended effective monopoly of the company; within four years company's power had dissolved; 1908 - company formed by nine leading film companies, refused to let other companies use their patented film equipment, distributed films only to theater owners who agreed to their terms (Kodak agreed to sell raw film stock only to members of the company).

August 20, 1912 - Thomas Edison received a patent for a "Phonographic Apparatus" ("to provide a diaphragm adapted to be used in a sound recorder or reproducer").

September 10, 1912 - Eugene T. Kieffer, of Philadelphia, PA, received a design patent for a "Design for a Cabinet for Talking-Machines".

October 22, 1912 - Thomas A. Edison received patent for a "Phonograph-Stylus" formed of crystallized boron (much harder than sapphire); could operate on sound records formed from hard materials without wearing away.

October 31, 1912 - First gangster film, The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith, debuted; followed career of gangster nicknamed the Snapper Kid.

March 25, 1913 - The Palace Theatre, home of vaudeville, opened in New York City.

June 12, 1913 - John Randolph Bray released The Artist's Dream (also known as The Dachsund) in which a dog eats sausages until it explodes; first animated cartoon made in the U.S. by modern techniques; invented, patented process and many of his improvements on the animation process, including use of translucent paper to make it easier to position objects in successive drawings.

September 25, 1913 - Charlie Chaplin (24) signed with Keystone, production company known for silent comedies, for $175 bonus; 1915 - refined his signature character, Charlie the Tramp, signed on with Essanay Company for $1,250 a week, plus $10,000 bonus; 1916 - signed with Mutual for $10,000 a week, plus $150,000 bonus (contract required him to make 12 films annually,  granted him complete creative control over pictures); 1918 - signed contract with First National for $1 million for eight films; 1919 - founded United Artists Corporation with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, director D.W. Griffith.

November 26, 1913 - Jesse Lasky formed Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company in partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish (later Goldwyn) and his friend Cecil B. DeMille; first production, The Squaw Man, directed by DeMille, was an instant hit; first feature shot in Hollywood.

1914 - Hal Roach began producing comedies; 1919 - acquired 10 acres at $1,000 an acre from Harry Culver, built Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, CA; l955 - acquired by Hal Roach, Jr.; 1962 - taken over by creditors; 1963 - acquired, become part of Landmark Industrial Tract.

February 7, 1914 - Charlie Chaplin (24) made first appearance in popular "Little Tramp" role, in Kid Auto Races at Venice.

February 13, 1914 - Group of prominent music creators founded The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers at the Hotel Claridge in New York City; 2004 - 2006 - has distributed nearly $1.7 billion dollars in royalties.

February 19, 1914 - Pittsburgh movie theaters required to establish seating section for unaccompanied women, some of whom, attending movies alone, had complained of harassment.

April 12, 1914 - Strand movie theater opened in New York City; first movie "palace," seating for 3,000 people and a second-floor balcony.

May 8, 1914 - W.W. (William Wadsworth) Hodkinson organized Paramount Pictures, Inc. as film financing,  distribution company; 1907 - opened first film exchange in Ogden, UT;  became Special Representative to General Film Company representing Motion Picture Patents Company in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles; April 1911 - reorganized San Francisco area for General Film; May 1913 - dismissed; formed Progressive Company, west coast-based distributor of  films of independent production companies; May 15, 1914 - Famous Players Film Co., The Lasky Corporation and Bosworth, Inc., contracted with Paramount Co. for distribution all pictures produced for period of five years from August 31, 1914; March 1, 1915 - Zukor renegotiated new 25 year distribution deal with Paramount; May 2, 1915 - Paramount Pictures Corporation acquired 51% of nine franchise holder corporations (from Zukor and Lasky); remaining 49% acquired December 4, 1916; May 20, 1916 - Zukor, Lasky acquired 50% of Paramount Co. (balance acquired December 1916); June 13, 1916 - Hodkinson forced to resign; July 1, 1916- Famous Players , Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company combined, renamed Famous Players-Lasky Corporation; July 19, 1916 - Famous Players-Lasky Corporation organized under laws of New York state primarily as holding company to acquire, hold capital stock of Famous Players Film Co., Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co, other domestic, foreign corporations; began buying movie theaters. 1927 - name changed to Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.; 1930 - changed name to Paramount Publix Corp.; 1933 - declared bankruptcy; 1935 - reorganized, re-established under name Paramount Pictures Corp.; 1966 - studio acquired by Gulf and Western; 1989 -  name changed to Paramount Communications; 1994 - control acquired by Viacom.

June 9, 1914 - Thomas A. Edison received three patents for a "Phonograph Reproducer" ("an improved mounting for the stylus lever in order that the same may have great freedom of movement in tracking the grooves of the sound record"; "the stylus may have great freedom of movement tracking the grooves of the record"; "an improved quality of sound and reproduction may be obtained with the use of a floating weight...that the fulcrum of the stylus lever may be placed nearer to the stylus than would otherwise be possible").

August 11, 1914 - John R. Bray, of New York, NY, received a patent for the "Process of and Articles for Producing Moving Pictures" ("a kind of moving picture which may be designated as animated cartoons to distinguish them from the ordinary moving pictures"; animation cels; revolutionized animation, made mass production of animation possible; November 9, 1915 - received second patent on the process; April 11, 1916 - received a third patent on the process.

September 29, 1914 - Thomas A. Edison, of West Orange, NJ, received a patent for a "Phonograph Record" ("having a surface of wear resisting material, such as celluloid").

1915 - Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus founded Technicolor Motion Picture Corp.; produced motion pictures using two-color process; December 3, 1922 - first successful Technicolor motion picture film released ("The Toll of the Sea", adaptation of Madam Butterfly); used early two-color System 2; 1932 - "Flowers and Trees" first full-color production from The Walt Disney Company, first Disney feature to win an Academy Award.

February 8, 1915 - Director D.W. Griffith's film "Birth of a Nation" premiered at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles; Civil War epic cost $100,000, ran nearly three hours, used revolutionary filmmaking techniques (multiple camera angles); a financial success, drew long lines to pay the unprecedented price of $2 a ticket; one of the songs in the movie's score, "The Perfect Song," became the first musical hit generated by a movie; 1919 - co-founded United Artists with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Charles Chaplin.

April 11, 1915 - The Tramp, Charlie Chaplin's third film, first comic masterpiece, released; refined the character and added his signature waddle. The endearing figure, with his bowler hat, baggy suit, and expression of hapless innocence, came to be Chaplin's trademark; 1919 - co-founded United Artists Corporation with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and director D.W. Griffith.

June 8, 1915 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Sound-Recording Apparatus"; flexible circular diaphragm bearing against a stylus at its centre that is held on a spring lever secured to a rigid support; designed to provide sensitivity for recording sounds, whether weak or strong, and to record them more truly; suggested materials included acetyl cellulose or paper.

June 15, 1915 - Earl Hurd received a patent for a "Process of and Apparatus for Producing Moving Pictures" ("method of producing moving picture films from a series of films or drawings photographed in sequence, and which give the effect of moving objects when projected in the usual manner upon a screen"); animation "cel" (transparent cellulose acetate sheets); allowed animators to draw the motion of their characters without having to draw the background for every frame.

October 1, 1915 - Federal court ruled that Motion Pictures Patents Co. (established in 1909 by Edison and Biograph film studios and other filmmakers to protecting patents, keep competitors from entering film industry) violated antitrust rules, stifled fair competition in fledgling film industry; 1917 - Supreme Court dissolved the trust.

January 21, 1916 - National Board of Review, founded in 1909 as the National Board of Censorship, agreed  not to accept nudity in films; volunteer group of film fans representing movie studios, served as industry watchdog to help studios avoid government censorship; 1921 - New York State passed a film-licensing law, which deprived the board of much of its power.

February 5, 1916 - Enrico Caruso recorded "O Solo Mio" for the Victor Talking Machine Company.

April 1, 1916 - Lewis Selznick founded Lewis Selznick Pictures; 1923 - went bankrupt; 1928 - Myron, oldest son, became talent agent, eventually made him one of most powerful personalities in Hollywood; David, younger son, got job at MGM, eventually married boss's daughter, Irene, left to work at Paramount, RKO; 1936 - founded Selznick International; 1938 - 20th Century Fox banned Myron from lot, claimed he undermined film industry by inflating actors' salaries; 1939 - David produced 'Gone with the Wind', used 15 screenwriters to adapt Margaret Mitchell's novel; became one of biggest box office hits in history; 1940 - brought Alfred Hitchcock from England to direct Rebecca, Hitchcock's first U.S. film.

May 23, 1916 - Thomas Edison received three patents for "Phonograph of Talking Machine" ("particularly of the type on which disk or flat records are operated upon, and preferably in which the sound conveying and amplifying horn is inclose within a suitable cabinet").

November 19, 1916 - Samuel Goldfish (born Schmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw, Poland, changed to Goldwyn in 1918) and Edgar Selwyn established Goldwyn Company as  independent filmmaker; 1914 - entered  film business with his brother-in-law and Cecil B. De Mille; 1916 - merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players, Goldfish named chairman of the board, partners bought him out soon afterward; 1922 - Goldwyn edged out of corporation; 1923 - formed Samuel Goldwyn Productions; later merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer productions to form MGM.

March 7, 1917 - RCA Victor released the first gramophone record of a jazz band, "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" recorded by Nick LaRocca Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

January 27, 1918 - First Tarzan film, Tarzan of the Apes,  released (silent movie based on Edgar Rice Burroughs's novel); Olympic champion swimmer Johnny Weissmuller starred in 11 Tarzan movies from 1932 to 1948, contributed Tarzan's signature yodel to the TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1969.

March 10, 1918 - Warner Bros. (begun 1903) released first full-scale film, "Four Years in Germany" (based on book by U. S. Ambassador to Germany); April 4, 1923 - studio incorporated; October 6, 1927 - released "The Jazz Singer",  first feature with sound; became major studio.

January 21, 1919 - Thomas Edison received a patent for a "Swaging-Machine" ("...for fastening of the diamond split or other stylus within its holder..." [for reproducing phonograph records].

April 17, 1919 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, David W. (D. W.) Griffith launched United Artists Corporation to give founders greater control of marketing of their films, to distribute films made by independent producers; first studio controlled by artists, not businessmen; agreed to share full financial and artistic control; sought complete creative freedom in their work; mid-1950s - original partners had sold their shares of company; 1951 - acquired by  lawyers, Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin; 1957 - went public; 1967 - acquired by TransAmerica Corporation; 1981 - acquired by MGM; 1983 - renamed MGM/UA Entertainment; 1992 - acquired by French bank Credit Lyonnais, name changed back to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (United Artists name abandoned).

November 25, 1919 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Method and Means for Improving the Rendition of Musical Compositions" ("to provide a method and means for enabling a plurality of players of the stringed instruments in an orchestra, to maintain substantially uniform pitch and temp while rendering any musical composition or work").

1920 - Harry Cohn, Joe Brandt, Jack Cohn founded C.B.C. Sales Film Corporation; one of so-called "Poverty Row" studios of Hollywood's Gower Street; made low-budget westerns, B-movies, serials; 1924 - renamed Columbia Pictures; 1934 - formed Screen Gems as cartoon division; 1946 - closed; 1948 - reopened as television division; 1973 - David Begelman took over floundering Columbia Studios; among first Hollywood agents to cross over, rise to top of studio system; February 1977 - discovered to have embezzled; indicted for forgery, grand theft (committed suicide in 1995); 1982 - acquired by Coca-Cola; 1984 - first release from Nova, joint production company (Columbia, HBO CBS); renamed Tri-Star Pictures (Coca-Cola eventually bought remaining two thirds of company); 1989 - Coca-Cola entertainment holdings acquired by Sony (Sony Pictures Entertainment).

June 1, 1920 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for the "Composition of Matter for Sound-Records or the Like and Process of Making Same" ("hard composition which does not adhere to a sound record matrix or other mold, which has a high melting point, and which is insoluble in the usual solvents...such a composition can be formed by treating shellac with a condensing agent [para=phenylene-diamin] so as to cause a molecular alteration or condensation in the shellac").

May 23, 1922 - Walt Disney formed his first film company with commercial artist Ub Iwerks, Kansas City-based Laugh-O-Gram Films; July 1923 - went bankrupt; October 1923 - signed contract with M.J. Winkler Productions, a New York film distributor, to produce six short films of Alice's Wonderland; moved to Hollywood to rear of a small office occupied by Holly-Vermont Realty in Los Angeles.

October 18, 1922 - Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, opened at Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Searchlights crossed the sky for first time at Hollywood premiere.

November 26, 1922 - Toll of the Sea, general release film using two-tone Technicolor for first time, debuted; (process had been used on one other film, The Gulf Between, but picture not widely distributed); process used two negatives, one with red tones, another with green, to create a color image; too expensive for most studios, most films remained black and white until the late 1930s.

December 3, 1922 - First successful Technicolor motion picture film released; used early two-color System 2 developed by Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, founder of Technicolor Motion Picture Corp. in 1915.

1923 - Hollywood Realty Company constructed advertisement sign for "Hollywoodland" real estate development in foothills just below sign; 1949 - County of Los Angeles repaired sign's first nine letters, removed last four; sign read HOLLYWOOD.

March 12, 1923 - Inventor Lee de Forest demonstrated Phonofilm, the first movie with sound recorded on film (music was recorded on a narrow strip at the edge of the film); demonstration showed a man and woman dancing, four musicians playing instruments, and an Egyptian dancer, all accompanied by music but no dialogue; acquired by Fox, 1927 - introduced as Movietone sound process; 1926 - Warner Bros. acquired the Vitaphone system for use in its early sound movies (revived company's fortunes).

March 31, 1923 - First U.S. dance marathon held in New York City; Alma Cummings set record of 27 hours.

May 29, 1923 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a  "Stylus Mounting" ("mountings for phonograph styli formed of a jewel, such as diamond or sapphire, and in which the sylus is partially enclosed in a metal holder and projects from a reduced end portion thereof"). provided for stylus to be firmly,  rigidly held to prevent it from loosening in use.

April 17, 1924 - Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, Louis B. Mayer Productions merged, formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or MGM; owned by Loew's Inc., chain of theaters run by Marcus Loew; "Leo the lion" logo (designed by Howard Dietz, publicist for Goldwyn Picture Corporation,  based on mascot of his alma mater, Columbia University, incorporated slogan “Ars Gratia Artis” [Art for Art’s Sake] accepted as MGM logo; August 16, 1927 - Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation registered “Ars Gratia Artis” trademark first used July 25, 1924 (motion-picture films);  1930s - most prestigious, glamorous, financially successful studio in Hollywood; 1952 - Supreme Court ruling forced  Loew's theater chain to sell ownership stake in MGM (power of studio system beginning to fade); 1973 - company stopped distributing films, purchased by series of owners.

May 27, 1924 - Jules Stein founded Music Corporation of American in Chicago; booked bands into clubs and dance halls; grew into leading talent agency, later became an entertainment conglomerate that owned film studio Universal International and Decca Records; 1962 - antitrust suit forced MCA to spin off its talent component separately; 1991 -  Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. purchased MCA; 1995 -  acquired by The Seagram Co.; 1996 - renamed Universal Studios.

December 22, 1924 - Thomas A. Edison received U.S. design patent for a "Design for a Phonograph Cabinet."

February 24, 1925 - Victor Talking Machine Company registered "His Master's Voice" trademark.

November 28, 1925 - The Grand Ole Opry made its radio debut on Saturday nights as a country music hour on station WSM in Nashville, TN; originally named "The WSM Barn Dance" (after a Chicago radio program called the National Barn Dance that had begun broadcasting the previous year); 1959 - name changed to "The Grand Ole Opry"; live 4 1/2 hour program, hosted by George Dewey Hay,  featured folk music, fiddling, and the relatively new genre of country-western music; all live performers were required to dress in hillbilly costumes and adopt old-time names; 1974 - show moved to a new 4,400-seat theater "Opryland".

January 25, 1926 - Central Casting Corporation opened (joint venture between most major Hollywood studios until  sold to private company in 1976); provided pools of extras for film production; 1929 - more than 17,000 extras were registered with bureau.

April 20, 1926 - Western Electric, Warner Bros. announced Vitaphone, process to add sound to film; system logged sound on record linked electronically to projector, kept sound synchronized with image; systems like Movietone quickly replaced Vitaphone (synchronizing a recording with a film was less reliable than integrating the sound onto the film itself); 1950s - magnetic tape recording and stereophonic sound system introduced; late 1970s - Dolby Laboratories introduced a noise-reduction system; early 1990s - digital sound systems added additional clarity and crispness to soundtracks.

July 23, 1926 - William Fox, Fox Film Corp., acquired  patents for sound system that will record sound onto film for $60,000; named it Movietone; 1928 - began making feature films with Movietone system; became associated with newsreels (captured newsworthy events on film, created valuable historical record in the process).

August 5, 1926 - Warner Brothers debut of first  'Vitaphone'' sound-on-disc film, "Don Juan" at Warner Theatre, New York; first mainstream film that replaced traditional use of live orchestra or organ for soundtrack (no dialogue in the film).

January 24, 1927 - Alfred Hitchcock's first film, "The Pleasure Garden", released in England.

February 24, 1927 - Fox demonstrated new Movietone sound process to media, filmed group of reporters in  morning, showed film, with sound, at night; no single audio standard for industry, cost to wire a movie house for Warner Brothers' Vitaphone sound system = about $20,000 (only about 200 theaters nationwide equipped). 1928 - Fox began making feature films with Movietone system.

March 11, 1927 - New York's Roxy Theater installed world's first rear-projection screen (projector's lens was flawed, screen could only be used to show silhouettes at first); 1931 - first theater specially designed for the rear-projection screen opened.

March 26, 1927 - Gaumont-British Film Corporation formed.

April 15, 1927 - Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Norma and Constance Talmadge became first celebrities to leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

May 4, 1927 - 36 members, including production executives and film luminaries, organized The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a nonprofit corporation to advance the arts and sciences of motion pictures; foster cooperation among creative leaders for cultural, educational and technological progress; recognize outstanding achievements; cooperate on technical research and improvement of methods and equipment; provide a common forum and meeting ground for various film-related crafts; represent the viewpoint of actual creators of the motion picture; and foster educational activities between the professional community and the public; Douglas Fairbanks Sr. first president.

May 18, 1927 - Sidney Patrick Grauman (opened first theater in Yukon in late 1890s) opened Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. (named for Asian-influenced decor); showed Cecil B. De Mille's "The King of Kings" (film version of the life of Christ) as some 100,000 fans swamped the theater, clamored to see Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford; soon became famous for its sidewalk, where more than 180 film stars placed their hand, foot, or paw prints in the cement during the next seven decades; 1970 - acquired by Mann Theater chain, renamed Mann's Chinese Theater.

October 27, 1927 - Fox Movietone News released first newsreel with sound in New York.

1928 - Laurens Hammond incorporated Hammond Clock Company; April 24, 1934 - received a patent for an "Electrical Musical Instrument"; organ; 1935 - Hammond Organ first introduced; construction made possible for musicians to create a dynamic, "billowing" organ sound; 1937 - became the Hammond Instrument Company; 1953 - renamed Hammond Organ Company; 1954 - semi-portable (400 pounds!) model B-3 introduced; brought organ to forefront of jazz, R&B and rock'n'roll; 1977 - acquired by The Marmon Group, Inc. (owned by Pritzker family of Chicago); 1986 - acquired by Hammond Organ Australia, PTY Ltd. (then owned by Noel Crabbe); 1991 - acquired by Suzuki Corporation, manufacturer of wide range of high-quality musical instruments.

1928 - Amos 'n Andy, radio series about two southern African Americans, debuted; starred two white actors: Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll; ran until 1955, more than 40 million listeners during its run, most highly rated comedy in radio history; NAACP protested both the radio and the TV series for promoting racial stereotypes.

January 20, 1929 - First full-length motion picture in U.S. taken outdoors released, titled "In Old Arizona"; first all-talking sound-on-film feature; charming, happy-to-lucky bandit in old Arizona plays cat-and-mouse with the sheriff trying to catch him while he romances a local beauty; starred Warner Baxter as The Cisco Kid, Edmund Lowe as Sergeant Mickey Dunn, Dorothy Burgess as Tonia Maria.

February 1, 1929 - The Broadway Melody, Hollywood's first original film musical, opened at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles; became first sound film to win Academy Award for Best Picture.

February 27, 1929 - Hearts in Dixie, first film created by  major studio specifically for an African-American audience, premiered in New York; musical comedy, produced by Fox Movietone, featured Stephen "Stepin" Fetchit and an almost entirely black cast. 

May 28, 1929 - Warner Brothers debuted the first all-color talking picture, "On With the Show."

1930 - Modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn (first recognized Martha Graham's potential) and his wife, Ruth St. Denis, leaders of Denishawn Company (dissolved in 1931), bought rundown farm in the Berkshires known as Jacob's Pillow, 1933 - founded Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival as showcase for his company of Men Dancers, as home for dance in the U.S.; March 1933 - gave first, historic, all-male performance in Boston;  July 9, 1942 - Ted Shawn Theatre opened, first theatre in United States designed specifically for dance; 2000 - included on Dance Heritage Coalition's list of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures, listed on National Register of Historic Places; 2003 - federal government named Jacob's Pillow a National Historic Landmark for its importance in America's culture and history (country's first and only Landmark).

January 21, 1930 - Thomas A, Edison received a patent for a "Mounting for Diaphragms of Sound Boxes" "to obtain the best acoustic results"); received second patent for "Production of Molded Articles" ("such as phonograph record blanks").

March 31, 1930 - Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) formally adopted "Hays Code" (Production Code) in attempt to avoid government censorship, satisfy public demand for morally acceptable movies; named for William H. Hays, former U.S. postmaster general under President Harding, past chairman of Republican National Committee, hired by MPPDA to create  movie production code.

1931 - Adolph Rickenbacker (operator of tool and die shop), George D. Beauchamp (steel guitar player) founded Electro String Instrument Corporation in Los Angeles to develop, sell amplifiers, produce "Rickenbacker Electro Instruments", first modern electric guitars; August 10, 1937 - George D. Bauchamp, of Los Angeles, CA, received a patent for an "Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument"; electric guitar; assigned to Electro String Instrument Corporation; 1953 - acquired by Francis C. Hall, founder of Radio and Television Equipment Company (Radio-Tel), formerly Fender's exclusive distributor; modernized Rickenbacker guitar line; 1960s - Beatles used several Rickenbacker models in early years (John Lennon owned four; September 1984 - John Hall, wife Cindalee, became sole owners; name changed to Rickenbacker International Corporation (RIC).

March 14, 1931 - Trans-Lux Theater opened in Manhattan; first theater specifically designed, built for rear projection of movies.

May 1931 - Biggest UK record companies, Columbia and HMV, merged under Sir Louis Sterling, formed Electric and Musical Industries (EMI); biggest record company in world for nearly 50 years (Columbia its flagship pop label).

September 17, 1931 - RCA (Radio Corporation of America) demonstrated very early versions of 33 rpm long-playing records at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in New York; product flopped - too expensive; RCA rival, Columbia, began mass production of the plastic LP records in 1948.

1932 - Joseph Schenck, former president of United Artists, Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Brothers, William Goetz from Fox Films, Raymond Griffith formed Twentieth Century Pictures as independent Hollywood motion picture production company; Nicholas Schenck (brother), Louis B. Mayer (Goetz's father-in-law), head of MGM Studios, provided financing; distributed by United Artists; Zanuck chief executive, Schenck head of production; May 31, 1935 - merged with Fox Film Corporation; formed Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (hyphen dropped in 1985); June 1981 - acquired by TCF Holdings, Inc. (Marvin Davis, Marc Rich) for $722 million; October 1984 - Davis bought other 50% from Marc Rich for $116 million; April 1985 - News Corporation acquired 50% interest in Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation for $132 million, lent $88 million to Fox; December 1985 - acquired remaining 50% interest for $325 million; renamed Fox, Incorporated

March 25, 1932 - Tarzan the Ape Man opened, with Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weismuller in title role.

July 30, 1932 - Walt Disney released first cartoon in color; "Flowers and Trees" made in three-color Technicolor.

December 27, 1932 - Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City; brainchild of billionaire John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; held $91 million, 24-year lease on Manhattan property known as "the speakeasy belt"; decided to make theater  cornerstone of Rockefeller Complex in that neighborhood; formed partnership with Radio Corporation of America (NBC radio, RKO films); largest indoor theatre in world  (seats 6,200 people); 1933 - Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular debuted. 

1933 - San Francisco Opera Ballet founded to train dancers to appear in lavish, full-length opera productions; oldest professional ballet company in America; 1939 - William Christensen choreographed Company’s first full-length production, Coppélia; 1940 - staged first American full-length production of Swan Lake; 1942 - became totally separate entity from the opera, renamed San Francisco Ballet; Harold Christensen (brother) appointed director of San Francisco Ballet School; 1944 - launched national holiday tradition with premiere of Nutcracker, first complete version of ballet ever staged in United States; 1956 - East Coast debut at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival; 1957 - toured 11 Asian nations, first performances of an American ballet company in Far East; 1972 - settled permanently in War Memorial Opera House for annual residency; 1974 - faced bankruptcy; Dr. Richard E. LeBlond, Jr. appointed president and general manager of San Francisco Ballet Association; July 1985 - Helgi Tomasson named artistic director.

March 2, 1933 - "King Kong" premiered.

May 7, 1933 - Walt Disney's cartoon Three Little Pigs is released; featured song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"; became the most popular animated film up to that time.

May 16, 1933 -  Richard Hollingshead Jr. (sales manager for Whiz Auto Products in Camden, NJ) received patent for for a "Drive-in Theater";  wanted to create a theater where parents could bring children in their pajamas, avoid baby-sitters, and relax in comfort of their own car while watching a Friday night film; June 6, 1933 - first drive-in movie theater opened on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, NJ; admission 25¢ per car,  25¢ per person, with no car paying more than $1.00; 1950 - May 16, 1933 patent declared invalid; 1958 - Drive-ins reached high of 4,063.

1934 - School of American Ballet founded on Madison Avenue, New York City; Lincoln Kirstein as president, George Balanchine as choreographer; 1935-1938 - American Ballet Company toured eastern United States, resident ballet troupe for Metropolitan Opera; 1936 - Ballet Caravan founded; succeeded by American Ballet Caravan; 1946 - Ballet Society founded to present performances for subscription audience; 1948 - Morton Baum, Chairman of Executive Committee of New York City Center extended invitation to establish resident ballet company to be known as New York City Ballet as part of City Center of Music and Drama; October 11, 1948 - New York City Ballet opened first season with three Ballanchine ballets: Concerto Barocco, Orpheus, and Symphony in C.

1934 - J Arthur Rank (Lord Rank), son of Joseph Rank, scion of flour milling family, entered motion picture industry; 1935 - with Charles Boot and British & Dominions Film Corporation established Pinewood Studios; 1941 - acquires control of Odeon Theatre Group, Gaumont British Picture Corporation; 1955 - Odeon Theatre Group changed name to The Rank Organisation; 1956 - joined forces with Haloid Corporation of America (later re-named Xerox Corporation) to manufacture copying equipment; 1969 - Rank Xerox established as joint-venture company; December 22, 1995 - Rank Group Plc established as public limited company; 1997 - sold part of remaining interest in Rank Xerox (total proceeds from 1995, 1997 sale of about £1.5bn); 2000 - sold Odeon Cinemas for £280m; sold Pinewood Studios for £62m; 2001 - launched Rank.com to exploit opportunities in on-line gaming; 2006 - agreed to sell Hard Rock Cafes to Seminole Tribe of Florida for $965million.

January 26, 1934 - Samuel Goldwyn bought film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum; 1939 - 101 minute film released; 1956 - an estimated 45 million people tuned in to watch the movie debut on television; 1998 - ranked sixth in American Film Institute's poll of America's 100 Greatest Movies.

April 24, 1934 - Laurens Hammond, of Chicago, IL, received patent for an "Electrical Musical Instrument";  first pipeless organ (manufactured by the Hammond Clock Company); two manuals and pedals, weighed 275 pounds, cost less than one cent an hour to operate; April 15, 1935 -exhibited at the Industrial Arts Exhibition, New York City.

May 18, 1934 - Sidney Skolsky, syndicated gossip columnist, entertainment reporter, first called Academy Award "Oscar" in print.

July 6, 1934 - Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) appointed Joseph Breen head of  Production Code Administration ("Hays Office," after William H. Hays, head of the MPPDA); tightened studio compliance with Production Code (adopted in 1930 to impose strict guidelines on the cinematic treatment of sex, crime, religion, violence, and other controversial subjects).

November 1934 - Enrique Carreras, Spanish immigrant, theater entrepreneur (started Blue Halls circuit of theaters in UK with 1913) joined forces with William Hinds, owner of chain of jewelers shops (stage name Will Hammer); registered Hammer Productions Ltd.; 1935 - formed Exclusive Films to distribute Hammer films, acquired productions; James Carreras (son) joined company; January 1949 - registered Hammer Film Productions Limited for business as independent film studio; associated with quality, low budget filmmaking; 1955 - released The Quatermass Xperiment (bought rights to TV sci-fi/horror hit The Quatermass Experiment); 1957 - "The Curse of Frankenstein" created 'Hammer House of Horror' brand; first color horror film, massive box office success; only British company with guarantee of US distribution; 295 title film library; May 10, 2007 - acquired by private European consortium, headed by Dutch based Cyrte Investments BV.

1935 - Philip Smith built first drive-in theater outside Detroit; 1949 - more than 20; 1951 - operated first shopping-center theatre, Framingham Cinema, in Framingham, MA; 1960 - went public; 1961 - Richard Smith (36) took control; renamed General Cinema Corporation; 1964 - name changed to General Cinema Corporation; 1967 - owned about 100 shopping-center theaters; 150 theaters in 26 states; 1968 - entered soft-drink business; became largest independent Pepsi bottler in U. S.; June 2, 1987 - 60% owner of The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc., (spun off by Carter Hawley Hale in response to second hostile takeover attempt by The Limited); 1989 - sold Pepsi bottling operations; November 1991 - acquired Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; 1993 - renamed Harcourt General, Inc.; 1999 - spun off remaining stake in Neiman Marcus Group to shareholders; October 2000 - GC Cos. Inc., parent of General Cinema, filed for bankruptcy protection (overbuilding of of multi-screen "megaplex" cinemas, weak movie releases).

March 2, 1935 - Porky Pig, designed by animator Bob Clampett, debuted in short "I Haven't Got a Hat"; name came from two brothers who were childhood classmates of director Fritz Freleng (nicknamed "Porky" and "Piggy); originally played him, Joe Dougherty, who actually did have a stuttering problem; 1937 - Mel Blanc won the audition for the character.

September 27, 1935 - Singer and actress Judy Garland (13)  signed her first contract with MGM; 1939 - became major star after playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz;  1950 - MGM fired her after she began showing up erratically for shoots; 1969 - she died from an overdose of sleeping pills.

January 4, 1936 - Billboard magazine published first pop-music chart based on national sales figures. A song called "Stop! Look! Listen!" by jazz violinist Joe Venuti topped first chart.

July 30, 1936 - David O. Selznick (Selznick International Pictures) agreed to pay $50,000 for film rights to Martha Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind"; more than any studio had ever paid for rights to first novel.

1937 - Mikhail Mordkin, former director of Bolshoi Ballet, formed new Mordkin Ballet (previously founded, dsibanded in 1926); student Lucia Chase helped finance company; she and Richard Pleasant (Hollywood agent) took over management after first season; 1939 - organized Ballet Theatre; 1935 - Oliver Smith became Co-director; 1957 - changed name to American Ballet Theatre; 1980 - Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director.

April 17, 1937 - Daffy Duck made his debut in Warner Bros. short, Porky's Duck Hunt.

December 21, 1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney's first full-length (83 minutes), animated talking film opened; two years and $1.5 million to create; first commercially successful film of its kind.

1938 - Leo Fender founded Fender's Radio Service in Fullerton, CA to repair radios, phonograph players, home audio amplifiers, public address systems, musical instrument amplifier (variations on vacuum tube circuits used for amplification); joined Clayton Orr Kauffman, formed K & F Manufacturing Corp. to design, manufacture, sell electric instruments, amplifiers; December 7, 1948 - Clarence Leo Fender and Clayton Orr Kauffman, of Fullerton, CA, received a patent for a "Pickup Unit for Instruments"; lap steel guitar; 1946 - renamed Fender Electric Instrument Company; 1965 - acquired by Columbia Broadcasting System for $13 million; 1985 - acquired by employees, renamed Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

January 17, 1938 - Benny Goodman and his orchestra performed first jazz concert at Carnegie Hall in New York; performers included Count Basie, members of Basie, Duke Ellington orchestras; jazz originated around 1900 but wasn't appreciated as a serious musical form for several decades.

February 3, 1938 - Vaudeville comedy team Bud Abbott and Lou Costello first appeared as regulars on Kate Smith Hour radio program.

July 14, 1938 - British director Alfred Hitchcock signed  contract with David O. Selznick to direct movies in Hollywood; already established reputation as England's foremost director with such films as The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1934 (which he remade in 1956) and The Lady Vanishes in 1938; 1940 - first American film, Rebecca, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, opened, won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Cinematography.

July 13, 1939 - Frank Sinatra made recording debut with  Harry James band, sang "Melancholy Mood" , "From The Bottom of My Heart."

December 15, 1939 - Gone With the Wind debuted in Atlanta; instant hit, broke all box office records in course of its run.

January 19, 1940 - Three Stooges film You Natzy Spy  released (nine months in advance of Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator"); 1923 - began as a vaudeville act billed as "Ted Healy and His Stooges"; stooges were brothers Moe (Moses) and Shemp Howard from Brooklyn; 1928 - Larry Fine joined; 1932 - Shemp left the act, replaced by brother Curly; Three Stooges made a total of 190 short subjects with Columbia, at least 20 feature-length films, hundreds of cartoons.

February 7, 1940 - Walt Disney's second feature-length movie, "Pinocchio," premiered (New York City).

May 21, 1940 - Walter E. Disney, of Los Angeles, CA, received patent for the "Art of Animation" ("improvements in the art of producing what are generally known as 'animated cartoons'"); assigned to Walt Disney Productions.

July 27, 1940 - Bugs Bunny made his debut in Warner Bros. animated cartoon "A Wild Hare"; featured Bugs as would-be dinner for frustrated hunter Elmer Fudd; animated by Chuck Jones, accent came from voice man Mel Blanc.

November 13, 1940 - Disney animated movie ''Fantasia'' had world premiere in New York; no plot, an ambitious, artistic attempt to marry music, animation; 1999 - film updated, re-released as Fantasia 2000,.

July 1941 - CBS, NBC switched from experimental broadcasts to fifteen hours per week of scheduled programming.

February 10, 1942 - First gold record (sprayed with gold by record company RCA Victor) presented to recording artist: Glenn Miller for 'Chattanooga Choo Choo' (performed in  movie Sun Valley Serenade; sales of 1,200,000).

June 4, 1942 - Glenn Wallichs, owner of Music City record store, on Vine St. in Los Angeles, movie producer Buddy deSylva, songwriter  Johnny Mercer started Capitol Records.

February 20, 1943 - Movie studio executives agreed to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies informally to prevent disclosure of vital information in war-themed films.

March 31, 1943 - Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!," premiered in New York City; played on Broadway for 2,248 performances.

March 31, 1945 - ''The Glass Menagerie'' by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

September 20, 1946 - First annual Cannes Film Festival opened at resort city of Cannes on the French Riviera (originally scheduled for September 1939 but cancelled due outbreak of World War II); 18 nations represented; entries  included "The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder), "Open City" (Roberto Rossellini), "The Battle of the Rails" (Rený Clement),  "Brief Encounter" (David Lean); 1952 - Palais des Festivals dedicated as a permanent home for the festival; 1955 - Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award for best film of the festival was introduced. 

1947 - Paul Pacini opened Whiskey a GoGo in Paris; highlighted American preference for for cocktails, hard liquor over French wine; walls covered with lids from whiskey cases (Dewar’s, Haig & Haig); jazz piped in.

1947 - Ahmet Ertegun, Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records in office in derelict hotel on West 56th Street in Manhattan; borrowed $10,000 from family dentist; 1954 - released "I Got a Woman (Ray Charles), "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (Joe Turner); 1967 - acquired by Warner Brothers-Seven Arts for $17 million; 1969 - acquired by Kinney National Service; one of only record labels of 1940s to survive into the 1990s, with founder still in charge; 1971 - founded New York Cosmos soccer team.

April 6, 1947 - Frst Tony Awards (theater) were handed out.

October 20, 1947 - House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of U.S. Congress (chaired by Congressman Parnell Thomas) opened investigation into communist infiltration of American movie industry; hearings focused on identifying political subversives among Hollywood actors, actresses, writers, directors.

October 24, 1947 - Walt Disney testified to House Unamerican Activities Committee, named Disney employees he believed to be communists.

November 24, 1947 - House of Representatives voted 346 to 17 to approve citations of contempt against 10 Hollywood writers, directors, and producers who had refused to cooperate at hearings held by House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) into influence of communism in movie industry (became known as  ''Hollywood 10''); men denounced questions as violations of their First Amendment rights, sentenced to one year in jail; Supreme Court later upheld contempt charges; 1951 - new HUAC hearings started, Hollywood quickly buckled to committee's demands; hundreds of performers, directors, writers, others placed on  "blacklist," effectively banned from employment.

December 27, 1947 - The Howdy Doody Show made its debut.

January 1, 1948 - Warner Brothers-Pathe showed first U.S. motion picture newsreel in color (using the Cinecolor process) of photos taken at Tournament of Roses, Rose Bowl Game, Pasadena, California; January 5, 1948 - started showing newsreels to theatre audiences.

February 2, 1949 - First 45 RPM record released.

April 7, 1949 - Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''South Pacific'' opened on Broadway.

June 1, 1949 - Lawrence Welk's band began two-year stint as house orchestra for radio show High Life Review; often lampooned for saccharine style, Welk eventually developed army of loyal fans, hosted one of longest running musical variety shows in history; 1951 - moved to TV, launched own show on local Los Angeles station; 1955 - show moved to ABC, aired on Saturday nights (straightforward dance music); gained strong following, stayed on air for 16 years; 1956 to1959 - Saturday night show so popular that ABC gave him second hour-long show, aired during the week, called Lawrence Welk's Top Tunes and New Talent; 1961 - topped charts with "Calcutta"; 1971 - ABC cancelled show.

January 4, 1950 - RCA Victor announced would start manufacturing long-playing (LP) records (long-playing album debuted in 1948); one side of 12-inch LP played for 23 minutes (vs. four minutes for one side of a standard 78 rpm record); took several years for standard to become universally accepted.

July 11, 1951 - Disk jockey Alan Freed started new job in Cleveland as disk jockey of rhythm and blues show, called "The Moondog House", called himself the "Moondog" (based on his chosen theme song, "The Moondog Symphony"); 1952 - he threw a rhythm and blues concert called the Moondog Coronation Ball, which drew more than 10,000 people; 1953 - he threw an R&B tour, titled The Biggest Rhythm and Blues Show, featuring Ruth Brown and Wynonie Harris; 1954 - Freed prohibited from using the name when blind New York City street musician who had recorded "Moondog Symphony" won a court battle; renamed radio show Alan Freed's Rock and Roll Party; copyrighted phrase "rock and roll" in partnership with black music legend Morris Levy, veteran promoter Lew Platt, radio station WINS; tidal wave of rock and roll soon made his copyright virtually useless.

March 21, 1952 - Alan Freed presented Moondog Coronation Ball at old Cleveland Arena, 25,000 attended first rock and roll concert ever.

November 25, 1952 - The Mousetrap," murder-mystery written by novelist, playwright Agatha Christie, opened at Ambassadors Theatre in London; became longest continuously running play in history, more than 10 million people attended more than 20,000 performances.

February 18, 1953 - ''Bwana Devil,'' movie that heralded 3-D fad of 1950s, opened in New York City.

April 8, 1953 - Man in the Dark, first 3D motion picture (audience used spectacles with one red, one green lens to produce illusion of depth) produced, released by major company, opened at Globe Theater in New York City; April 10, 1953 - The House of Wax, next 3D feature movie, first color three-dimensional picture (had to be viewed through special glasses) from major company opened at Paramount Theater in NYC; 1922 - Perfect Pictures made The Power of Love, first 3D feature film; February 1947 - Russian production of Robinson Crusoe, first 3D talking picture in color, shown in Moscow.

January 4, 1954 - Elvis Presley, a struggling young musician who worked in a machine shop, made a recording for his mother's birthday; paid $4 at Sun Records to record two songs: "Casual Love Affair" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way"; Marion Keisker, Sam Phillips's assistant, was so impressed that she brought a copy of the recording to him; July 5, 1954 - Elvis, Scotty Moore and with Bill Black had first recording session at Sun Records; recorded rhythm-and-blues debut single song, called "That's All Right"; July 7, 1954 - Memphis, TN, station WHBQ aired first recording of ''That's All Right''.

July 17, 1954 - George Wein founded "First American Jazz Festival" in Newport, RI; featured performances by Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Gerry Mulligan, Eddie Condon, Modern Jazz Quartet, Oscar Peterson, others; sponsored by Elaine and Louis L Lorillard (gave Wein $20,000 line of bank credit, never used); broke even first year; 1960, 1969, 1971 - riots caused performance cancellations; 1972 - festival moved to New York City; 1981 - resumed in Newport, became two-site festival associated U.S. and international tours; 1984 - sponsored by JVC; 1986 - name changed to JVC Jazz Festival.

January 14, 1955 - Alan Freed, disc jockey of popular radio show Rock 'n' Roll Party, produced first rock and roll dance concert in New York at St. Nicholas Arena; featured Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner, others; all musicians were black,  least half the audience was white; 1955 - Cleveland was selected as site for construction of Rock and Roll Museum because Freed had popularized term there.

January 31, 1955 - RCA demonstrated first music synthesizer.

July 2, 1955 - Musical-variety program, The Lawrence Welk Show, debuted on ABC; 1951 - Welk, bandleader from North Dakota known for light dance music, launched his own show on a local Los Angeles channel; remained network hit for about 16 years, then became a syndicated series. 1982 - Welk retired.

January 28, 1956 - Elvis Presley made first-ever television appearance, on Dorsey Bros Stage Show (TV musical-variety program); sang "Heartbreak Hotel"; June 5, 1956 - Elvis introduced new single, "Hound Dog," on The Milton Berle Show; scandalized audience with suggestive hip gyrations; other show hosts, including Ed Sullivan, denounced performance, swore he would never invite Presley on his own show; Fall 1956 - Sullivan booked Elvis for three shows.

September 9, 1956 - Elvis Presley appeared on Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town"; sang "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog"; scandalized audiences with suggestive hip gyrations; became household name.

October 2, 1956 - Inaugural performance of Joffrey Ballet at Frostberg State Teachers College in Maryland; founded by Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino; consisted of six dynamic, highly individual dancers; Joffrey stayed in New York to teach ballet classes, earn money to pay dancers' salaries; Arpino led troupe across America in station wagon that pulled a U-Haul trailer; 1957 -first performance in major city in Chicago at Eighth Street Theater; 1995 - made Chicago permanent home, currently resident ballet company of Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

November 15, 1956 - Love Me Tender, Elvis Presley's first movie, opened at Paramount Theater in New York; covered its production cost of $1 million in three days; Elvis appeared in 33 movies over next 13 years.

December 11, 1956 - Movie industry's tight restriction of language, subject matter ("Hays Code" or the Production Code), eased slightly for first time since adoption in 1930; actors could now mention abortion, drugs, kidnapping,  prostitution; 1966 - new standards adopted, permitted more liberal portrayals of sexual content, imposed heavier restrictions on violence; 1968 - Code replaced by movie ratings system, greatly expanded range of permissible subjects for film.

1957 - MGM shut down its animation studio; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation directors William Hanna, Joseph Barbera changed name of H-B Enterprises to Hanna-Barbera Productions (1944 - H-B Enterprises founded as freelance television commercial production company); made cartoons directly for small screen, launched first production, Ruff and Reddy; 1960 - produced first-ever animated prime-time family sitcom show, with half-hour storyline, The Flintstones; also produced The Jetsons, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo, Smurfs; 1991 - acquired by Turner Broadcasting; 1992 - renamed H-B Production Company; 1993 - renamed Hanna-Barbera Cartoons; 1996 - Turner acquired by Time Warner; Hanna-Barbera absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation.

1957 - Jim Stewart founded Satellite Records in wife's uncle's garage in north Memphis, TN; 1958 - sister, Estelle Axton, took out second mortgage, bought out Stewart's partners, financed purchase of Ampex recorde; 1961 - renamed Stax (STewart + AXton) to avoid competing with another company, in Califiornia, named Satellite Records; 1962 - created a subsidiary label, Volt Records, used for rhythm and blues music; 1965 - signed formal national distribution deal with Atlantic Records; March 1968 - label acquired by Gulf and Western; July 1970 - Stewart and Al Bell (Stax sales director) reacquired label; 1972 - distribution pact with Columbia Records (subsequently altered); January 1976 - ordered closed by bankruptcy judge; December 18, 2006 - Concord Music Group reactivated Stax label.

March 25, 1957 - Ricky Nelson cut his first records, "A Teenager's Romance" and "I'm Walkin'' few weeks later, sang the songs on the TV series and became an overnight pop star, despite his complete lack of musical experience; one of the best-selling male singers of the 1950s - 53 Hot 100 hits, 17 in the Top 10.

April 19, 1957 - Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA, presented its first showing of Casablanca (1943); introduced new generation of film viewers to Humphrey Bogart (died in January 195); marked the beginning of a Bogart revival that would boost the star to cult-like status in the 1960s and later.

July 6, 1957 - Paul McCartney (15) attended church picnic in the village of Woolton, near Liverpool; met John Lennon (16). Lennon had formed a band called the Quarrymen, which was playing at the picnic. Between sets, McCartney played a few songs on guitar for the band, and a few days later Lennon invited him to join. McCartney didn't take the group seriously-in fact, missed his first performance with the band because he had a scouting trip. Group changed its name to Johnny and the Moondogs, recruited McCartney's friend George Harrison. Changed the name again, to Silver Beetles, after bassist Stu Sutcliffe joined; eventually modified name to the Beatles. Tommy Moore joined the band as drummer; 1960 - replaced by Pete Best. Label after label rejected them. 1962 - Best left band, Ringo Starr joined, and the Fab Four--McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr--recorded "Love Me Do," the group's first Top 20 hit in the United Kingdom. 1970 - band broke up.

1958 - Alvin Ailey, group of young black modern dancers performed for first time as members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York's 92nd Street YM-YWHA; 1968 -  performed at White House for President Johnson; 1974 - Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble created (professional dance company with full touring schedule to help most talented students from Alvin Ailey American Dance Center make leap from studio to stage); November 15, 1978 - special performance for President Jimmy Carter at White House; 1989 - Judith Jamison became Artistic Director; 2005 - seen by estimated 21,000,000 fans in 48 states, 68 countries on six continents.

1958 - Jimmy Lyons (saxophonist), Ralph Gleason (San Francisco Chronicle's music critic, founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine) co-founded Monterey Jazz Festival (every third full weekend in September) on Monterey Fairgrounds, Monterey, CA (Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, John Lewis, Shelly Manne, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Ernestine Anderson, Harry James, Max Roach, Billie Holiday); longest running jazz festival in world; proceeds donated to musical education.

March 14, 1958 - Recording Industry Association of American created.

March 27, 1958 - CBS Labs announced new stereophonic records.

January 12, 1959 - Berry Gordy, Jr. borrowed $800 from his family's loan fund, quit $85/week upholstery trimmer's job at Lincoln-Mercury assembly line, incorporated Tamla Records in Detroit, MI (had hit pop charts for first time in November 1957 as songwriter with Jackie Wilson's "Reet Petite; had written, produced songs for first signed act, The Matadors,  changed their name to The Miracles, Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson became vice president of company); January 1960 - Motown moved headquarters into house in Detroit; "Hitsville U.S.A." sign hanged outside; basement made into studio; April 1963 - Mary Wells song "You Beat Me to the Punch" first Motown record to receive Grammy nomination; 1966 - produced 14 songs that reached Top 10; January 25, 1968 - Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through the Grapevine" No. 1 on charts for seven weeks, longest run of any Motown single to that time; 10 singles in 1968 in Top 10; 1971 - 11 singles reach Top 10; August 1978 - The Commodores song "Three Times a Lady" first Motown recording to register No. 1 on pop, R & B, adult contemporary charts at same time ; January 1987 - Lionel Ritchie first Motown artist to record country music hit with "Deep River Woman"; June 1988 - acquired by partnership between MCA, Boston Ventures; now subsidiary of Universal Motown Records Group (subsidiary of Universal Music Group).

February 3, 1959 - Plane crash near Clear Lake, IA, few minutes after takeoff on flight from Mason City to Moorehead, MN, on flight between tour dates during Winter Dance Party Tour, claimed lives of rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (Valenzuela, 17), J.P. ''The Big Bopper'' Richardson (28); Holly had just scored No. 1 hit, "That'll Be the Day," with his band, the Crickets.

May 4, 1959 - National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced winners of first Grammy Awards:  Henry Mancini won the Best Album for The Music from Peter Gunn; Perry Como voted Best Male Vocalist, Ella Fitzgerald Best Female Vocalist. "Volare," by Domenico Modugno, won Best Record.

May 18, 1959 - Wilbert Harrison's recording of blues hit "Kansas City" topped charts; first song in history of Top 100 charts to debut at No. 100, climb all way to top.

May 3, 1960 - Musical comedy The Fantasticks opened in  off-Broadway playhouse in New York's Greenwich Village; became longest-running musical of all time; May 2000 - 15,562 performances had been given, producers' initial $16,500 investment had earned $3 million.

August 1, 1960 - Chubby Checker released "The Twist".

November 4, 1960 - Filming wrapped on The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, last film for both.

March 21, 1961 - The Beatles made their debut in  appearance at Liverpool's The Cavern; August 2, 1961 - Beatles first gig as house band of Liverpool's Cavern Club; August 3, 1963 - last gig.

November 9, 1961 - Record store manager Brian Epstein went to Liverpool nightclub (the Cavern) to hear Beatles; January 1962 - became Beatles's manager; helped them land their first record deal; September 1962 -  recorded "Love Me Do," group's first Top 20 hit in United Kingdom; debut album in United States, Meet the Beatles, became  fastest-selling album in U.S. history to that time; scored more No. 1 hits on Billboard charts (20) than any other group in history. October 26, 1965 - appointed Members of Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace; August 1967 - Epstein died ofaccidental overdose of sleeping pills; 1970 - each member pursued solo career or formed a new group.

December 1961 - Beach Boys' "Surfin' issued on X Records as promo and Candix; February 17, 1962 - hit #5 on national pop charts.

January 13, 1962 - Chubby Checker's hit "The Twist" became first song to reach the No. 1 spot twice in two years.

May 9, 1962 - Beatles signed first contract with EMI Pstlophone.

July 12, 1962 - The Rolling Stones gave their first public performance at Marquee Club in London - called Rolling Stones after Muddy Waters song.

September 11, 1962 - The Beatles recorded their first single, ''Love Me Do'', ''P.S. I Love You,'' at EMI studios in London.

October 5, 1962 - The Beatles' first hit, ''Love Me Do,''  released in United Kingdom.

1964 - Dr. Amar G. Bose, professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded Bose Corporation; May 30, 1967 - Bose Corporation registered "Bose" trademark first used May 1966 (acoustical transducer systems for reproducing sound); 1968 - introduced 901® Direct/Reflecting® speaker system (blend of reflected and direct sound); introduced acoustic waveguide speaker technology (performance of large, multi-component stereo system from compact, all-in-one system).

January 11, 1964 - Elmer Valentine, Mario Maglieri opened Whiskey-A-Go-Go, Los Angeles's first disco (the French word discotheque, record library = recordings with no bands), at 8901 Sunset Boulevard; chief entertainment consisted of dancing to simplified form of rock; underground disco subculture turned into a national sensation when film Saturday Night Fever released in 1977.

January 13, 1964 - Capitol Records released Beatles' first single in USA; "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"; sold one million copies in first three weeks.

February 7, 1964 - The Beatles arrived in New York for first American tour, touched off rock 'n' roll's ''British invasion''; February 1, 1964 - first No. 1 U.S. hit with "I Want to Hold Your Hand"; February 9 - first appearance on Ed Sullivan Show, popular television variety show (estimated 73 million U.S. television viewers, about 40% of U.S. population); February 11 - first public concert appearance in United States at Coliseum in Washington, DC.

March 28, 1964 - Beatles broke Elvis Presley's 7-year record for most hits on Billboard's Hot 100 at same time (1956 - Presley had nine songs on Hot 100); Beatles scored 10th hit; April 11 - 14 positions on chart; August - first feature-film, A Hard Day's Night; 1970 - Beatles disbanded, left legacy of 18 albums, 30 Top 10 U.S. singles.

April 13, 1964 - Sidney Poitier became first black performer in leading role to winAcademy Award, for ''Lilies of the Field.''.

October 25, 1964 - British rock group Rolling Stones appeared on Ed Sullivan's TV variety show. 

January 4, 1965 - Leo Fender sold Fender Guitar Company (guitar, amplifier company) to CBS; 1985 - CBS shed non-broadcast holdings, sold company to small contingent of employees, investors led by William Schultz.

June 10, 1966 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? received  Production Code Seal of Approval; first film containing four-letter words to be approved; also contained adult content ordinarily banned from screen, but Warner Bros. promised to admit only viewers over 18. 

October 19, 1966 - Gulf and Western Industries Inc. acquired Paramount Pictures Corp.; responsible for Godfather and Indiana Jones trilogies; renamed Paramount Communications, acquired Viacom Inc.

October 22, 1966 - The Supremes became first all-female music group to attain No. 1 selling album (The Supremes A' Go-Go).

June 1, 1967 - Album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by Beatles released; took four months, $75,000 to record, sold over 8 million copies, spent 15 weeks at No. 1.

1968 - Walter J. Trumbull, working toward doctorate at Manhattan School of Music, started boys' choir as after-school music program in the basement of Ephesus Seventh-Day Advent School in Harlem; 1975 - incorporated as Boys Choir of Harlem; eventually gave rise to Choir Academy of Harlem, 600-student school (full academic program for grades 4-12); 1988 - founded Girls' Choir of Harlem.

October 7, 1968 - Motion Picture Association of America adopted film-rating system: G (for general audiences), M (for mature audiences), R (no one under 16 admitted without an adult), and X (no one under 16 admitted); January 27, 1970 - New system of movie ratings  announced: MPG replaced by PG (parental guidance suggested), R movies restricted admission of people under age of 17 unless accompanied by parent or guardian; 1984 - PG-13 rating added at request of moviemaker Steven Spielberg (to address concerns raised by parents of preteens who thought some of Spielberg's films, including "Indiana Jones" series and Gremlins, were too scary for their children, even though they fit within other guidelines for a PG movie); September 26, 1990 - X rating phased out in favor of NC-17 (non-pornographic films with sexual content deemed inappropriate for viewers under age 17).

1969 - Manfred Eicher, classically trained musician, founded Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) in Munich (he is recording producer, publisher, editor); aimed for high sound quality associated with classical recording; established early reputation with standard-setting jazz, improvised music albums; interests extend across the arts.

January 30, 1969 - The Beatles performed as group for last time in public in 45-minute gig on roof of their Apple Records headquarters in London during filming of ''Let it Be.'' April 9,  1970 - Paul McCartney formally announced group's breakup.

August 15-17, 1969 - 3-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair, "An Aquarian Exposition" (modeled after the Monterey Pop Festival) opened at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, NY - nearly a half a million people converged on the concert site, many of the "counterculture" ("hippies") who rejected materialism and authority, experimented with illicit drugs,  actively protested against the Vietnam War. Jimi Hendrix closed the concert with a freeform solo guitar performance of "The Star Spangled Banner." Woodstock became a symbol of the 1960s American counterculture and a milestone in the history of rock music.

1970 - Richard Branson (20) established mail-order record company; 1971 - opened Virgin Record and Tapes, record shop on second floor of building at 24 Oxford Street, London, UK; 1972 - with Simon Draper (cousin), Nik Powell opened recording studio, near Oxford, UK; signed Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' (made the label); 1977 - signed Sex Pistols; June 1992 - acquired by Thorn EMI for reported $1 billion (used proceeds to fund Virgin Air); third largest music company in world; 2008 - merged with Capitol Records, created Capitol Music Group; went on to head of one of world’s most universally recognized, respected groups of companies.

February 21, 1970 - Jackson 5 made TV debut on American Bandstand.

March 21, 1971 - Andromeda Strain (scientists racing against time, alien virus), first movie to use computer animation, opened.

August 1, 1971 - Concert For Bangladesh was event title for two benefit concerts; played to total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York; first fundraising event of its kind; first benefit concert that brought together an extraordinary assemblage of major artists collaborating for a common humanitarian cause – setting the precedent that music could be used to serve a higher cause.

October 1, 1971 - Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World Resort opened in Orlando, FL; October 23, 1971 - dedicated by Roy Disney; 1,076-piece marching band played 76 Trombones; Arthur Fiedler conducted World Symphony Orchestra (musicians from 60 countries).

October 20, 1973 - Queen Elizabeth II dedicated Sydney Opera House; $80 million structure, designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, funded by profits of the Opera House Lotteries, built on Bennelong Point, in Sydney, Australia; contains several large auditoriums, presents average of 3,000 events a year to an estimated two million people.

May 2, 1975 - Apple records closed.

March 2, 1976 - Walt Disney World logged 50 millionth guest.

May 25, 1977 - George Lucas's blockbuster Star Wars opened in American theaters on Memorial Day weekend.

August 16, 1977 - Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, TN, at age 42; 1965 - highest-paid performer in history of entertainment business; made 28 films, considered frivolous, second-rate, grossed millions.

April 15, 1983 - Tokyo Disneyland opened in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo; first Disney park built outside of United States.

September 27, 1983 - "A Chorus Line" opened, became longest running show in Broadway history (opened October 19, 1975), passed "Grease" (3,389th performance); April 28, 1990 - 6,137th and final performance.

August 10, 1985 - Michael Jackson bought ATV Music (all Beatle songs) for $47 million.

September 20, 1985 - Walt Disney World received its 200-millionth guest.

January 26, 1988 - Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Phantom of the Opera'' opened at Broadway's Majestic Theater (became longest-running show in Broadway history).

July 5, 1988 - Warner Bros. Inc. registered Bugs Bunny's "What's Up Doc?" (for use on T-shirts) trademark.

May 1, 1989  - Disney's MGM Studio theme park officially opened to public.

September 27, 1989 - Sony completed purchase of Columbia Pictures for $3.4 billion; under the direction of producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, studio released  series of costly flops, racked-up $3 billion in debt,  Sony officials considered selling Columbia.

November 19, 1990 - Pop duo Milli Vanilli stripped of  Grammy Award after revealed that neither performer sang on group's records.

March 20, 1991 - Michael Jackson signed $65M 6 album deal with Sony records.

January 23, 1992 - Smithsonian Institution awarded producer, director, screenwriter Hal Roach its highest honor, the James Smithson Medal; 1915 - formed his own production company with D. Whiting, called The Rolin Company, after he inherited $3,000 (later bought Whiting out and changed the studio's name to Hal Roach Studios).

April 12, 1992 - Euro Disneyland, $4 billion theme park, opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France.

July 31, 1995 - Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire Capital Cities/ABC for $18.47 billion.

November 21, 1995 - Disney released Toy Story (by Pixar);  first entirely computer-animated feature; grossed $300 million in one year.

December 19, 1997 - ''Titanic,'' highest-grossing movie of all-time, opened in American theaters; March 23, 1998 -  won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture, best director and best song; tied record set by 1959's ''Ben-Hur.''

February 20, 1998 - U.S. movie box office hit quickest $1 billion for year (51 days).

September 10, 2000 - Broadway's longest-running production, "Cats," closed after more than 7400 performances.

January 13, 2002 - Off-Broadway musical ''The Fantasticks'' performed for last time, ended run of nearly 42 years, 17,162 shows.

September 8, 2003 - Recording Industry Association of America, music industry's largest trade group, filed 261 copyright lawsuits across country against Internet users for trading songs online; accused them of unauthorized sharing of files containing copyrighted material.