This was Television on June 2
1953: Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation
More than a year after the 25-year-old princess became Queen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Ceylon, Pakistan and other territories, the traditional coronation ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey. As well as the first such ceremony to be televised, it was also the first major event broadcast in both Britain and North America on the same day. Although many authorities, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill, opposed the idea of televising the event, Elizabeth insisted on it. A joint venture between two private companies also used the occasion to test out an experimental system, broadcasting part of the procession in color on a limited, closed-circuit basis—one of the earliest color broadcasts on record. -A.D.
Today’s Birthdays: Morena Baccarin, companion (34); Wayne Brady, improviser (41); Dana Carvey, sketch comic (58); Andy Cohen, talk show host (45); Nikki Cox, brain (35); Joanna Gleason, character actress (63); Charles Haid, cop (70); Dennis Haysbert, president (59); Stacy Keach, narrator (72); Jerry Mathers, the Beaver (65); Wentworth Miller, prison escapee (41); Zachary Quinto, supervillain (36); Al Ruscio, character actor (89); Max Showalter, character actor (d. 2000); Jewel Staite, engineer (31).
This Was Television 
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