Events January 19 - 68% of all United States television sets were tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth February 18 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the ''I Love Lucy' television series through 1955. March 25 - CBS concedes victory to RCA in the war over color television standards. April 3 - TV Guide is published for the first time, with 10 editions and a circulation of 1,562,000 May 25 - KUHT in Houston, becomes the first non-commercial educational TV station June 2 - The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is televised in the U.K. The Tonight Show begins as a local New York variety show. August 30 - NBC's Kukla, Fran, and Ollie Show is broadcast in color October 19 - Arthur Godfrey fires Julius La Rosa on the air. November - RCA tests its compatible color TV system on the air for the first time with a telecast of the Colgate Comedy Hour. December 24 - NBC's Dragnet becomes the first network-sponsored television program. December 17 – The FCC reverses its 1951 decision and approves the RCA/NTSC color system Japanese television goes on the air for the first time Popular Television Shows I Love Lucy (1951-1957) The Ed Sullivan Show (1948-1971) Flash Gordon, (1953-1954), starring Steve Holland Ending this year Amos 'n' Andy (1951-1953) Births June 13 - Tim Allen, actor October 9 - Tony Shalhoub, actor October 22 - Jeff Goldblum, actor Deaths