Movies & TV on the Timeline
The films and shows that defined pop culture. Here’s a taste of the Movies & TV pack — 155 verified moments and counting.
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That’s Whensly — a new daily puzzle of real moments on the timeline.
Play today’s puzzle — free on the App Store- 1927🎤 The Jazz Singer premieres in New York, ushering in the era of talking pictures with synchronized sound.
- 1937🍎 Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre, the first feature-length animated film.
- 1940🏆 At the twelfth Academy Awards, Hattie McDaniel wins Best Supporting Actress, the first Black performer honored.
- 1951📺 CBS airs the first commercial color television broadcast in the United States, seen on only a few sets.
- 1953📺 The Academy Awards ceremony is broadcast on television for the very first time, hosted by Bob Hope.
- 1958🌀 Hitchcock's Vertigo premieres in San Francisco, spinning an acrophobic detective into a dizzying obsession with a mysterious woman.
- 1960🦕 The Flintstones debuts on ABC as the first animated sitcom in a prime-time slot.
- 1964🎸 The Beatles make their U.S. television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, igniting Beatlemania for millions of viewers.
- 1965🎄 A Charlie Brown Christmas debuts on CBS, the first animated Peanuts special and an instant holiday classic.
- 1966🏄 The Beach Boys release Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson's lush studio opus featuring God Only Knows.
- 1968🧥 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood makes its national debut, as Fred Rogers swaps his cardigan and welcomes children to make-believe.
- 1969☮️ The Woodstock music festival opens on a New York dairy farm, with Richie Havens taking the stage first.
- 1972🎬 The Godfather opens nationwide, introducing the Corleone crime family and Marlon Brando's whispering Don Vito.
- 1974🕴️ Happy Days debuts on ABC, dropping the Cunningham family and the leather-jacketed Fonzie into a nostalgic Milwaukee.
- 1976🥊 Rocky reaches US theaters, following Philadelphia underdog boxer Rocky Balboa as he goes the distance against the champion.
- 1977🏆 Rocky, the scrappy boxing underdog story, wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- 1980🤠 Dallas reveals who shot J.R., the cliffhanger payoff drawing one of television's largest audiences.
- 1981🎸 MTV launches and plays its first music video, the Buggles' Video Killed the Radio Star.
- 1983🧟 Michael Jackson's groundbreaking fourteen-minute Thriller short film premieres on MTV, reshaping the music video.
- 1984💜 Prince and the Revolution release Purple Rain, the soundtrack album that turns him into a global superstar.
- 1985📚 The Breakfast Club opens, locking five teen stereotypes in Saturday detention where they bare their souls together.
- 1986✈️ Top Gun roars into theaters, with Tom Cruise's hotshot pilot Maverick chasing glory at an elite Navy flight school.
- 1988🛋️ Roseanne premieres on ABC, portraying the working-class Conner family with blunt, blue-collar humor led by Roseanne Barr.
- 1990🎥 Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas opens in American theaters, following Henry Hill through mob life.
- 1991🎬 The Silence of the Lambs opens in theaters, introducing Clarice Starling to the chilling Hannibal Lecter.
- 1991🎤 Whitney Houston delivers a soaring Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl, an anthem performance for the ages.
- 1993🧹 Robin Williams disguises himself as an elderly Scottish nanny to spend time with his kids in Mrs. Doubtfire.
- 1994🦁 Disney's The Lion King opens wide across thousands of screens, becoming one of animation's biggest hits.
- 1994🍫 Tom Hanks stars as a slow-witted Alabama man who stumbles through decades of American history in Forrest Gump.
- 1997⛄ South Park premieres on Comedy Central, unleashing four foul-mouthed Colorado kids and crude cardboard-cutout animation.
- 1998🪖 Tom Hanks leads soldiers behind enemy lines to find one paratrooper in Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.
- 1999🎬 The Sopranos premieres on HBO, ushering in the prestige-television era with mob boss Tony Soprano.
- 1999🐶 Family Guy premieres on Fox after the Super Bowl, introducing the chaotic Griffin family and their talking dog Brian.
- 2000🗡️ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon opens in the US, its warriors leaping across rooftops in soaring martial-arts ballet.
- 2001🧅 A grumpy green ogre and a chatty donkey rescue a princess in the fairy-tale comedy Shrek.
- 2002🏮 A young girl wanders into a spirit-world bathhouse to free her transformed parents in Spirited Away.
- 2003👑 Frodo finishes his quest to destroy the ring as Middle-earth's war ends in The Return of the King.
- 2004🏝️ Lost premieres on ABC as plane-crash survivors confront a mysterious island, becoming a serialized phenomenon.
- 2007📡 Netflix launches its Watch Now streaming service, letting subscribers watch movies instantly online.
- 2007🥃 Mad Men premieres on AMC, immersing viewers in the smoke and ambition of ad man Don Draper's Madison Avenue agency.
Think you can put these in order?
That’s Whensly — a new daily puzzle of real moments on the timeline.
Play today’s puzzle — free on the App Store