Today in History – January 11, 1954 – Although radio weather broadcasts have been around since 1922, it was not until 1953 that BBC executives, gathered for a luncheon, introduced the idea of presenting a weather forecast on television. These BBC executives searched the Met Office and chose the 32-year-old George Cowling, a former Royal Air Force meteorologist, to take on this new idea. Cowling delivered the first televised weather forecast on January 11th, 1954 at 7:55 PM from BBC’s Lime Grove Studios. The broadcast lasted for only five minutes and cost 50 pounds to deliver, but it started a weather forecasting revolution. Today, the BBC’s Weather Center produces 100 forecasts each weekday, now with the help of modern computer, lighting, sound, and camera technology. This equipment was not available to Cowling, who relied on an easel to deliver his first broadcast.

Two months later RCA produced the first color television sets. See Lisa Huettel’s March 25 blog on this event.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the color television. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.