| Date |
Event |
| January 1 |
VH1 begins in the United States. |
| February 4 |
NBC becomes the first commercial television network to use satellite interconnection for its stations; as a result, it is the first network to discontinue use of chime intonations at the beginning of each telecast, to signal to its affiliates to start broadcasting the network feed. |
| March 2 |
The NBC situation comedy Gimme a Break! broadcasts an episode live. |
| March 20 |
Norman Lear sells Tandem Productions and Embassy Television companies to The Coca-Cola Company, which also owns Columbia Pictures company, for $485 million. |
| April 28 |
WLIG commences broadcasting. (The call letters would change to WLNY-TV on September 1, 1996) |
| May 11 |
The first episode of Saturday Night's Main Event is broadcast by NBC, the first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast by the network television since the 1950s. |
| May 15 |
The season finale of Dynasty sees the entire wedding party of Amanda Carrington (Catherine Oxenberg) and Prince Michael of Moldavia (Michael Praed) shot by revolutionaries in what is known as the Moldavian Massacre |
| May 17 |
The season finale of Dallas finds character Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) on his deathbed after his crazed ex-sister-in-law Katherine Wentworth (Morgan Brittany) runs him down with her car. |
| May 19 |
WOIO-TV commences broadcasting in Cleveland. |
| June 14 |
ABC broadcasts its 2,311th and last daytime episode of Family Feud after 9 years. Richard Dawson gives an emotional speech at the end of the broadcast. Dawson would return to the series during 1994 for one more season. Also, Press Your Luck broadcasts the episode in which all three contestants would be invited back after a mistake on a question about the cartoon character Sylvester was corrected by Mel Blanc telephoning Peter Tomarken at the end of the show. |
| July 1 |
Nick at Nite, a nighttime program service with an emphasis on classic television reruns, is launched in the United States, being broadcast on the same channel as Nickelodeon. At the same time, A&E, which previously shared Nickelodeon's channel, begins broadcasting as its own 24-hour cable channel on a separate satellite transponder. |
| July 13 |
The Live Aid concerts are broadcast from London and Philadelphia. In the U.S., the concerts are broadcast by MTV and over-the-air syndication, with ABC joining in a 3-hour prime-time time period. |
| July 22 |
Douglas Marland starts his critically acclaimed eight-year run writing for the series As the World Turns. |
| August 19 |
A taping of an outdoor interview for NBC's Today is interrupted by David Letterman, who, while taping his own Late Night, leans out of an office window and announces, "My name is Larry Grossman (then-president of NBC News) and I'm not wearing any pants!" |
| September 2 |
NBC becomes the first broadcast network in the U.S. to broadcast its prime time programs with stereo sound. |
| September 14 |
In part one of a three-part season premiere of The Facts of Life, Edna's Edibles, which had been the main locale of the long-running series since 1983, is burned to the ground. Edna Garrett and the girls would rebuild and replace it with an ice cream and gift shop named Over Our Heads. |
| September 18 |
"Top Ten Things That Almost Rhyme With Peas" is the subject of the first "Top 10 List" on Late Night with David Letterman. |
| September 22 |
The first Farm Aid concert is telecast from Champaign, Illinois, in syndication and by TNN. |
| September 23 |
Jackie Gleason and Art Carney reunite in the CBS movie Izzy and Moe. |
| November 8 |
The final episode of The Price is Right with Johnny Olson as announcer is broadcast by CBS. Olson had died on October 12; the show was broadcast as an "in memoriam" tribute to him on October 29. |
| November 9 |
Saturday Night Live begins its 11th season, with Lorne Michaels returning as executive producer and an all-new cast that includes Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller. |
| November 17 |
Kane & Abel, a miniseries based on the bestselling Jeffrey Archer novel, debuts on CBS television. |
| November 18 |
Elmo, a new character for Sesame Street, is introduced. In the same episode, the adult cast of Sesame Street come face-to-face with Aloysius Snuffleupagus for the first time since the character's 1971 introduction. |
| December 3 |
Copacabana, an original musical featuring Barry Manilow (based on his 1978 song of the same name), Annette O'Toole, and Estelle Getty, is broadcast by CBS. |
| Courteney Cox uses the word "period" (referring to menstruation) on U.S. television for the first time, in a commercial for Tampax brand tampons. |
| Date |
Name |
Notability |
| January 11 |
Aja Naomi King |
Actress (How to Get Away with Murder) |
| January 29 |
Isabel Lucas |
Australian actress (Home and Away) |
| February 7 |
Deborah Ann Woll |
Actress (True Blood, Daredevil) |
| Tina Majorino |
Actress (Veronica Mars, Big Love, Grey's Anatomy, Legends) |
| February 19 |
Haylie Duff |
Actress (7th Heaven) |
| March 15 |
Eva Amurri |
Actress (Undateable) and daughter of Susan Sarandon |
| March 31 |
Jessica Szohr |
Actress (Gossip Girl) |
| April 6 |
Al Mukadam |
Canadian actor (Radio Free Roscoe) |
| April 17 |
Rooney Mara |
Actress |
| May 10 |
Odette Yustman |
Actress (October Road, The Astronaut Wives Club) |
| May 28 |
Carey Mulligan |
British actress (Bleak House) |
| June 8 |
Rosanna Pansino |
Actress, singer and YouTube personality (Nerdy Nummies) |
| June 25 |
Annaleigh Ashford |
Actress (Masters of Sex) and singer |
| July 1 |
Léa Seydoux |
French-American actress |
| July 2 |
Ashley Tisdale |
Actress (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Phineas and Ferb) and singer |
| July 18 |
Chace Crawford |
Actor (Gossip Girl) |
| July 25 |
James Lafferty |
Actor (One Tree Hill) |
| Shantel VanSanten |
Actress (One Tree Hill) |
| August 9 |
Anna Kendrick |
Actress and singer |
| August 15 |
Emily Kinney |
Actress (The Walking Dead) and singer |
| August 16 |
Agnes Bruckner |
Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful, The Returned) |
| August 21 |
Laura Haddock |
Actress (Da Vinci's Demons) |
| August 27 |
Kayla Ewell |
Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful, The Vampire Diaries) |
| September 8 |
Vanessa Baden |
Actress (Kenan & Kel) |
| September 16 |
Madeline Zima |
Actress (The Nanny, Californication) |
| September 27 |
Grace Helbig |
Actress and YouTube personality |
| October 8 |
Bruno Mars |
Singer (Saturday Night Live) |
| October 11 |
Michelle Trachtenberg |
Actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl) |
| October 23 |
Masiela Lusha |
European-born American actress (George Lopez) |
| October 28 |
Troian Bellisario |
Actress (Lauren, Pretty Little Liars) and daughter of Donald P. Bellisario |
| November 4 |
Gillian Zinser |
Actress (90210) |
| November 20 |
Dan Byrd |
Actor (Aliens in America) |
| November 30 |
Kaley Cuoco |
Actress (8 Simple Rules, 6teen, The Big Bang Theory) |
| December 3 |
Amanda Seyfried |
Actress (As the World Turns, Big Love) and singer |
| December 5 |
Frankie Muniz |
Actor (Malcolm in the Middle) |
| December 10 |
Raven-Symoné |
Actress (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, That's So Raven) |
| December 26 |
Beth Behrs |
Actress (2 Broke Girls) |
| December 28 |
Taryn Terrell |
Actress and former ECW personality |
| December 30 |
Anna Wood |
Actress (Reckless) |
