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Television And Its Impact On The World War II

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In 1926 John Logie Baird transmitted his first image with his new mechanical television. As the 4”x2” image of his business partner illuminated his face, Baird was completely unaware of the influence this new medium would have on the opinions and attitudes of the people of the world. Television represented a new opportunity to bring not only audio like radio but to place an image in every home. Along with the work of many other inventors television was soon to become a viable medium of entertainment and news but it did face many setbacks. At first television was a novelty, completely overshadowed by the established medium of radio. Before World War II very few homes contained a television and broadcasters mostly aired 15 minute segments and were limited in technology. Then on September 1, 1939 Hitler and Germany invaded Poland and the world plunged into World War II. The FCC issued a ban on the construction of television equipment causing the growth of television to stagnate. At the end of the war economic prosperity and a rising middle class opened the door for a new rise in the purchase of goods. One such good was the television. In 1947 only a few thousand homes owned a television. By 1950 six million homes contained a television, and in 1960 around 60 million homes contained a television. During this period a new war was being waged: the Cold War. In this battle between United States and the Soviet Union ideals propaganda was the main way to grow support for their cause

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