1950s

1952: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reserves an initial 242 channels for noncommercial educational use. Channel 26 is set aside for the District of Columbia.

1953: The Greater Washington Educational Television Association, GWETA, is incorporated in the District of Columbia for the purpose of activating Channel 26 "to furnish a non-profit and noncommercial educational television broadcast service to the Greater Washington Area."

1957: Elizabeth Campbell is elected GWETA President.

1958: GWETA's first program, Time for Science, an elementary school science program, goes on the air on local commercial station WTTG. Until October 1961, GWETA produces programs for in-school use and airs them on WTTG.

1960s

1961: FCC Chairman Newton Minow accepts the application for activation of WETA, licensed to GWETA. The next day he gives his now-famous "Vast Wasteland" speech on the shortcomings of commercial television.

On October 2, WETA Channel 26 goes on the air with an inaugural program that includes the reading of a message from President John F. Kennedy. The first-year operating budget is $150,000. Programming the first year consists entirely of educational programs produced for and used by the local schools: Elementary Spanish, Children's Literature and Window on Our World.

1962: The first membership drive gives viewers an opportunity to provide funds for general operations and evening programs.

1963: Three programs premiere on Channel 26: Sets and Systems, financed by the U.S. Office of Education and designed to introduce approximately 235 Washington-area grade school teachers to new methods of teaching mathematics; Youth Wants to Know; and What in the World?, an archaeology quiz game.

1964: William J. McCarter is appointed general manager. New programs include Let's Lipread, a series of 12 half-hour programs providing instruction in speech reading, and English – Fact and Fancy, which won WETA's first Emmy.

Congress stipulates that all new television sets produced must have UHF as well as VHF receivers. Special UHF adapters are no longer needed to receive Channel 26.

WETA moves from a classroom in Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where a renovated gym provides a complete production and broadcast facility.

New programming includes Of People and Politics, a series of 21 programs on political conventions, campaigning and election practices; and the weekly Neil MacNeil Reports (not connected to the future The MacNeil/Lehrer Report) on Congress.

1966: Adding the first weekend broadcast, WETA is now on the air 86 hours, seven days a week – nearly triple the original schedule.

WETA's signal strength doubles, and its antenna moves from Arlington, Virginia, to the highest tower in the Greater Washington area, on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland, increasing potential audience viewership by one million.

1967: WETA presents its first color telecast: President Lyndon Johnson's State of the Union Address.

WETA premieres Washington Week in Review, a showcase for top Washington journalists to candidly examine the stories behind weekly headlines in the national news. This is the first station-produced program accepted for national distribution by PBS.

1970s

1970: WETA 90.9 FM goes on the air broadcasting classical music, jazz and folk music as well as coverage of debates, hearings and other important events.

1971: Donald V. Taverner becomes president and general manager of WETA.

GWETA becomes The Greater Washington Education Telecommunications Association. The "T" is changed from "Television" to "Telecommunications" to reflect the total broadcast services made available by the addition of 90.9 FM.

The National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT) is formed as the principal public affairs production agency for public television.

All Things Considered, from National Public Radio (NPR), becomes part of the WETA 90.9 FM afternoon lineup, airing at 5 p.m.

1972: WETA studios move to 3620 South 27th Street, in the Shirlington Village neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia.

NPACT merges into GWETA.

1973: Senate Watergate Hearings, produced by WETA, air on PBS.

1974: Watergate Impeachment Hearings are produced by WETA for PBS.

1975: Ward B. Chamberlin is named WETA's President and General Manager.

1976: The MacNeil/Lehrer Report premieres on PBS.

1977: With a new transmitter at River Road, in Bethesda, WETA TV 26's signal strength becomes four times as strong as in 1961 and is able to reach viewers throughout the metropolitan area.

1978: WETA's Children's Art Festival is inaugurated.

1979: WETA introduces Metro Week, a local news and public affairs program featuring top Washington-area journalists interpreting the stories behind the headlines.

1980s

1980: WETA premieres The Lawmakers, a national weekly series on Congress, hosted by Paul Duke.

1981: A Capitol Fourth, the popular yearly concert held on the West Lawn of the Capitol, begins, featuring celebrity performers and the fireworks display.

WETA creates WETACOM, Inc., to generate ancillary income for the station through marketing of excess production capacity. WETACOM produces programs for cable, commercial syndication and private networks, as well as video projects. WETACOM, Inc., also produces educationally oriented programs for distribution in the home video and educational video markets.

1982: "Audio description" is added to NOVA by WETA and The Washington Ear.

1983: Summer of Judgment: The Watergate Hearings, a retrospective on the Watergate hearings, is anchored by Charles McDowell on WETA.

The MacNeil/Lehrer Report is expanded into a one-hour program, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.

1984: Smithsonian World, a WETA series asking and answering questions about the world, premieres and is the winner of three national Emmys.

The executive offices of WETA TV 26 and 90.9 FM move to 3700 South Four Mile Run in Shirlington, Virginia.

WETA's Summer of Judgment: The Impeachment Hearings, a program presented 10 years after the Watergate hearings as a sequel to Summer of Judgment: The Watergate Hearings, focuses on the question of presidential impeachment.

1985: WETA Channel 26 premieres Around Town, a 30-minute weekly roundtable hosted by Robert Aubry Davis. The show features discussion by critics and cultural experts on the visual and performing arts in Washington.

WETA presents Treasure Houses of Britain, a three-part series celebrating the legacy of English estates and English collecting, to PBS.

WETA premieres The Skin Horse, a film examining the sexuality of severely disabled people. It is narrated by Nabil Shaban, a seriously disabled actor who co-authored the program. The film wins a George Foster Peabody Award.

1986: The Africans, a series of nine one-hour television programs presenting a view of Africa from the inside out, explores cultural conflict and cultural synthesis. It is co-produced by WETA and the BBC.

1987: WETA magazine, a WETA-produced program guide for members, begins publication.

1988: Election '88 coverage includes Campaign: The Prime Time President and The Last Word.

1989: Sharon Percy Rockefeller becomes WETA president and CEO; Ward B. Chamberlin becomes WETA vice chairman.

WETA 90.9 FM expands to a 24-hour format.

WETA's Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land portrays the Arab-Israeli conflict in human terms and presents a revealing look into the minds of Jews and Arabs living in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It wins a duPont-Columbia Award.

1990s

1990: Ken Burns's The Civil War, an 11-hour television documentary event, features over 16,000 images of the war with an eye to poetic detail and a respect for the narrative force of the individual image. It wins a primetime Emmy and dozens of other awards.

WETA premieres Nine Months, a weekly half-hour program following the pregnancies of eight local women at risk of having low birth weight babies. WETA's outreach department works with school and government officials, health care professionals, social service agency personnel and others to reach nontraditional audiences with videotapes, print materials and special events.

1991: WETA premieres Talking with David Frost, a critically praised series of monthly interviews with host David Frost and guests, including President and Mrs. George Bush, Andrew Lloyd Webber, General Norman Schwarzkopf and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Folk Masters, a co-production of WETA 90.9 FM, Carnegie Hall and Radio Smithsonian, begins with the 13-part series Traditional Music in the Americas hosted by folklorist Nick Spitzer.

WETA celebrates its 30th anniversary with WETA Day at the National Zoo.

Award-winning National Geographic Specials become part of WETA presentations at 8 p.m. on November 13, with Hawaii: Strangers in Paradise.

1992: Ken Burns's Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio premieres as a television documentary and a radio drama.

WETA broadcasts the first over-the-air transmission of a digital high-definition television (HDTV) program in this country, from the WETA transmission tower in Bethesda, Maryland, to the U.S. Capitol.

Sharon Percy Rockefeller and the Children's Television Workshop's Cookie Monster announce WETA's three-year commitment to the Sesame Street Preschool Educational Program initiative.

WETA creates Convention Night in Review and Why Bother Voting? as part of a comprehensive election-year coverage campaign to educate and encourage participation among viewers and listeners.

1993: On July 1, WETA 90.9 FM begins broadcasting to over 200,000 people in southern Pennsylvania and western Maryland through repeater station WETH 89.1 in Hagerstown, Maryland.

To honor the 40th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, President and Mrs. Clinton host a jazz performance at the White House, the first in a new series of WETA's In Performance at the White House specials.

For the Living, WETA's program on the development and construction of the U.S. Holocaust Museum, debuts for a national audience.

1994: WETA launches PTV: Ready To Learn, a groundbreaking service of children's programming featuring new series, innovative break segments, educational materials and training sessions throughout the Greater Washington community.

Washington Week in Review, in its 27th year, undergoes a changing of the guard. Venerable host Paul Duke retires from the show after more than 20 years as moderator. Veteran journalist Ken Bode joins the panelists as the new head of the table.

Washington Week in Review joins America Online, allowing viewers to communicate with panelists and other viewers and access a wealth of information about the government.

WETA presents Ken Burns's Baseball, a definitive film history of our nation's pastime in nine "innings." President and Mrs. Clinton host the Washington screening of the film at the National Theatre and with a White House reception.

A Salute to Slava kicks off the new television series The Kennedy Center Presents in celebratory tribute to the National Symphony Orchestra's departing music director, Mstislav Rostropovich.

1995: WETA launches a new local public affairs series, Here & Now, hosted by Derek McGinty. The weekly half-hour program covers issues, events and people in the news in metropolitan Washington, using a mix of field production and studio interviews.

WETA purchases property to consolidate studios and offices in one facility in the Shirlington area of Arlington, Virginia.

WETA acquires CapAccess, an interactive computer network that connects Greater Washington area schools, libraries, local governments and community service organizations and also helps users connect with other communities and information resources throughout the Internet and the World Wide Web. WETA also begins to maintain its own website during the spring.

Robert MacNeil retires from The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour after 20 years co-anchoring. The program becomes The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

1996: WETA partners with Wisconsin Public Television and KTCA to produce Citizens '96, a six-part series airing throughout the election year. Designed to explore citizens' agendas for the 1996 presidential campaign, the series combines reports from public television stations, partnering with newspapers and radio stations across the country, town hall discussions, an online component and citizen discussion groups.

WETA announces plans to construct a digital broadcast facility capable of broadcasting in HDTV. The facility is scheduled to be operational by 1998. On July 24, WETA receives an experimental license from the FCC for digital television broadcasting. WETA broadcasts on Channel 34 for the experimental period.

LD OnLine is launched on October 25. This comprehensive website provides in-depth, interactive information about learning disabilities to parents, teachers and children around the world.

1997: WETA constructs a DTV transmitter, which is first tested on April 3. During President Clinton's 1997 inauguration, WETA and NHK, Japan's public broadcasting network, co-produce coverage of the ceremony, parade and balls in full high-definition television format. The programs air on Japan's daily HDTV service.

WETA signs an agreement with Store of Knowledge, Inc., a California-based retail chain affiliated with over 20 public broadcasting stations around the country, to open WETA Store of Knowledge at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City on April 30. The stores feature a selection of specialty gifts spanning over 60 subjects including history, science, the arts, foreign language, and self-improvement, as well as a section dedicated exclusively to products related to public broadcasting. Washington-area locations come to include Tysons Corner Center, Fair Oaks Mall, Pentagon City Mall and Georgetown Park. Until 2001, WETA owns a minority interest in WETA Store of Knowledge.

In August, WETA broadcasts its first-ever production in HDTV, Impressionists on the Seine. Based on the exhibit by the same name at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. , the program features masterpieces of Impressionist art with views of the Seine River in high-definition format, along with interviews and commentary.

1998: In January, WETA successfully transmits digital television (DTV) programming to a personal computer (PC). The test was conducted by WETA and Intel Corporation to study the delivery of digital television, with added data such as interactive educational materials, to PCs. Images from WETA children's series Cover to Cover are digitized, stored on computer hardware and then sent through WETA's DTV transmitter in Arlington, Virginia, to the station's headquarters – 4.23 miles away. The program is received by a prototype 8VSB ATSC-compliant receiver PCI card and displayed on a Pentium® II processor-based system.

In May, WETA restructures its internal operations in a move to reposition the company for the new competitive landscape. The new internal structure separates the activities of the company into four operating groups – The Greater Washington Broadcast Group, The National Programming Group, The WETA Business Development Group and The Corporate Services Group – and emphasizes broadcasting to the Greater Washington community as its core mission.

In June, WETA presents its first annual Travel Auction for viewers to bid on a selection of vacations, luxury items and gourmet treats from around the world.

In November, WETA kicks off its inaugural digital broadcast with the premiere of WETA HD Showcase, an original half-hour program highlighting the company's HDTV productions. To give viewers an opportunity to experience WETA's digital service, WETA forms partnerships with retailers in the Greater Washington area to demonstrate HDTV on in-store digital sets receiving WETA's signal.

In December, WETA President and CEO Sharon Percy Rockefeller announces the development of FANFARE: The Classical Music Channel, an advertiser-supported 24-hour network devoted exclusively to showcasing classical music through music videos, news and interviews with Dick Cavett as primary host.

1999: In January, WETA forms a partnership with The Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan and nonprofit media-oriented foundation, to create a new public affairs cable network called Forum Network. The cable network, perhaps the first to be created by a private foundation in partnership with a public television station, is intended to serve the Greater Washington metropolitan area. It is expected to present original programs and public affairs and news programs currently airing on WETA, as well as other programs offered by the public television broadcasting system not available on WETA.

On January 18, WETA launches a 24-hour classical music service online, broadcasting WETA's 90.9 FM programming and news breaks to listeners worldwide over the Internet.

In April, Discovery Communications, Inc., a privately held, diversified media company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, announces its partnership with FANFARE, a cable classical music network created by WETA.

In April, WETA launches Potomac Adventure, a major multimedia initiative covering the Potomac River that included extended coverage on weta.org.

In May, Frank Lloyd Wright, a production of WETA Washington, D.C., and Florentine Films and a General Motors Mark of Excellence Presentation, is selected to receive a George Foster Peabody Award. This is WETA's 11th Peabody Award and the second garnered by a production of WETA and Florentine Films. Ken Burns's The Civil War was the first.

In May, WETA TV broadcasts the first publicly demonstrated digital multicast signal in the Greater Washington area as part of an effort to showcase the technological promise of digital television. Viewers are invited to local Myer-Emco stores to view four programs broadcast simultaneously on WETA Digital Channel 27.

On June 1, WETA 90.9 FM adds NPR's Morning Edition to the weekday morning program lineup and Weekend Edition to weekend morning programming.

In July, WETA 90.9 FM begins broadcasting as WETA 88.9 FM in Frederick, Maryland, after a translator antenna is installed on Gambrill Mountain to allow clear reception of 90.9 FM's radio programming.

In August, WETA's senior vice president for technical and support services and chief financial officer Joseph Widoff succeeds Linwood Lloyd as chief operating officer. N. William Jarvis, WETA's senior vice president for business development and general counsel, becomes executive vice president for the Greater Washington Broadcast Group.

In September, veteran broadcast and print journalist Gwen Ifill joins PBS as a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and as moderator and managing editor of Washington Week in Review. Ifill's first broadcast on Washington Week in Review in her new role is October 1, and her first appearance as senior correspondent on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer is October 4.

In October, WETA 90.9 FM broadcasts transitioned to the new digital master control on the second floor of Campbell Place.

In November, WETA and the Freedom Forum, citing insufficient commitments for carriage from cable systems operators, end plans to develop Forum Network, a new public affairs cable network that was to serve the Greater Washington metropolitan area.

On November 15, WETA's television broadcast transmissions transition to the new digital master control, and WETA begins broadcasting HDTV transmissions 24 hours a day.

December marks Sharon Percy Rockefeller's 10-year anniversary as president and chief executive officer of WETA.

2000s

2000: In the January-March session of the Virginia state legislature, lawmakers appropriate $23.6 million to help defray costs of digital conversion for Virginia public television stations. Of those funds, $2.1 million is designated for WETA, becoming available over the next two years. The funding represents the first state money WETA receives for the television station. The radio station presently receives a small state grant each year.

In February, Anne Wexler is elected chairman of the WETA board of trustees, replacing the outgoing chairman, Roderick Heller.

In September, the WETA website, weta.org, is redesigned and relaunched. WETA adds complete program listings for radio and television; extended educational resources, which include parenting tips, program-related educational information and a children's broadcast schedule; a live audio stream from WETA 90.9 FM; and new content related to WETA productions and projects, including The Kennedy Center Presents and WETA's Hometown Heroes.

On October 2, an audio simulcast of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer joins the evening lineup of 90.9 FM, replacing one hour of Performance Today.

In the fall, activities related to FANFARE:The Classical Music Channel are suspended.

2001: In January, WETA, KCTS/Seattle, PBS and NHK/Japan produce the first live HDTV broadcast of a presidential inauguration for President George W. Bush.

In February, Washington Week in Review is renamed Washington Week.

On February 22, WETA launches exploreDC.org, an Internet site offering important resources and educational content about the capital region.

On March 28, the Store of Knowledge, Inc. files for Chapter 11 and WETA ends its relationship with the chain. Despite an attempt at reorganization, the Store of Knowledge was dissolved in June.

On July 2, Joseph B. Bruns succeeds Joseph Widoff as WETA executive vice president and chief operating officer.

On August 15, WETA launches ReadingRockets.org, the first part of a multimedia project to help children who have serious difficulty learning to read.

From September 11 until September 28, WETA creates more than 60 hours of primetime programming for the entire PBS system. In October and November, WETA produces two bioterrorism programs, BioTerror: What You Need to Know, which aired locally, and Bioterror: Coping With A New Reality, which aired nationally.

On October 2, WETA celebrates its 40th anniversary. Activities throughout the year include a staff celebration and a commemorative issue of WETA magazine in December.

In December, WETA begins carrying the ChevronTexaco Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts on 90.9 FM.

2002: WETA becomes available on DirecTV and Echostar as a part of their local channels package. This was as a result of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act's "must carry" provision, which stated that any satellite broadcaster carrying one local signal in a subscription area must carry them all.

In March, the WETA transmitter on River Road in Bethesda fails, just prior to a planned replacement of the 25-year-old antenna and transmission line. The station temporarily suspends its digital service and converts the Arlington transmitter to analog. The station transmits from the weaker transmitter in Arlington until the antenna is replaced on April 20.

In June, WETA's Hometown Heroes receives its first Capital Region Community Service Award. The WETA's Hometown Heroes project heralds individuals who improve their communities and encourages others to service.

In November, WETA begins multicasting over the air and through the Comcast digital cable service. Offerings include WETA Prime, featuring the best of WETA's primetime schedule; WETA Kids; WETA Plus, featuring educational programming for adults; and WETA HD Showcase, featuring high-definition programming.

On December 4, WETA founder Elizabeth Campbell celebrates her 100th birthday. Festivities include a WETA staff celebration and a community reception at St. Peter's Church in Arlington.

2003: In March, John Hechinger Jr. is elected chairman of the WETA board of trustees, replacing the outgoing chairman, Anne Wexler.

In May, Reading Rockets launches the website ColorinColorado.org to help Spanish-speaking children learn to read and succeed in school.

In July, WETA launches a new quarterly series of one-hour television specials, Flashpoints USA with Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill.

The Reading Rockets national reading project launches First Year Teacher, a mentoring program designed to help teachers and reading specialists.

In November, the organization relaunches WETA magazine, featuring a new format and expanded content.

In November, WETA signs a contract to sponsor a toll-free telephone line for The Metropolitan Washington Ear, Inc.'s dial-in newspaper and magazine service, which provides reading for the blind, visually impaired and print-handicapped in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland.

In December, WETA begins daily 24-hour broadcast of TV 26 programming to Comcast Cable's local subscribers.

WETA 90.9 FM becomes a full-time digital broadcaster, utilizing the In Band On Channel (IBOC) system developed in partnership with iBiquity Digital Corporation of Columbia, Maryland.

2004: On January 9, WETA founder Elizabeth P. Campbell passes away at age 101 following a brief illness. Hundreds of mourners attend her funeral at St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

In February, WETA, in partnership with George Mason University, launches Sesno Reports, a series of public affairs specials hosted by journalist Frank Sesno.

In June, WETA launches a new PBS public affairs weekly series, Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered.

In September, WETA relaunches Around Town, changing the format from a 30-minute weekly program to brief arts and culture reviews broadcast throughout the TV 26 schedule, providing more opportunities for viewers to access information on the arts in Greater Washington.

In July, WETA relaunches its website weta.org, featuring improved graphics, enhanced links and better access to information about WETA's television and radio broadcasts and the organization's services.

WETA TV 26 broadcasts expansive coverage of 2004 presidential election events, including the Republican and Democratic national conventions, the presidential and vice presidential debates, and Election Night.

2005: In February, WETA changes the format on 90.9 FM to provide an international news focus, broadcasting programming shaped around offerings from National Public Radio (NPR) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

In June, WETA wins an Arlington Best Business Award (ABBIE), presented by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.

In September, Reading Rockets relaunches its website ReadingRockets.org, featuring improved navigation and new content to help parents, teachers and caregivers work with children who are struggling to read.

In October, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer marks its 30th anniversary.

2006: Beginning January 1, WETA presents new programming on the station's digital television multicasts, available to digital cable subscribers and to viewers using digital receivers. WETA HD continues its broadcast of high-definition programs; WETA Create features how-to, travel and lifestyle programs; WETA Family offers family-friendly programs; and WETA World airs news and public affairs programs and documentaries.

On January 2, WETA launches WETA Neighborhoods, a local mini-documentary series created to showcase the rich diversity of Greater Washington's communities.

In February, Washington Week forges an editorial partnership with the highly respected nonpartisan weekly publication National Journal; the program becomes Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal.

In April, WETA relaunches LD OnLine.org, the leading online resource for information on learning disabilities and ADHD. New features include a special section for educators, a monthly column by an expert in learning disabilities, and a glossary of abbreviations and terms used in education today.

On May 13, WETA launches Out & About with 90.9, a weekend radio program focusing on arts, cultural and entertainment resources in Greater Washington.

On May 22, WETA hosts the WETA Salute to Excellence, a black-tie dinner celebrating the 30th anniversary of The NewsHour and the acclaimed journalism of Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer and honoring the long public philanthropy of Mrs. Leonore Annenberg and her husband, the late Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg.

On July 17, WETA launches The Intersection, a local interactive news and talk show broadcast each weekday on 90.9 FM.

In November, WETA launches WETA All Access and The WETA Guide, two local television series that showcase the region's resources, activities, businesses and institutions.

2007: On January 22, WETA changes its radio format to all classical music. Classical WETA 90.9 FM becomes the exclusive classical music station in the nation's capital.

In April, the landmark television series America at a Crossroads premieres with 12 hours of independently crafted documentaries airing over six consecutive nights. Journalist Robert MacNeil hosts the series. WETA is the series producer of the project, developed and funded by CPB.

On June 2 in a community celebration, 28th Street South in Shirlington Village is renamed Campbell Avenue in honor of WETA founder Elizabeth P. Campbell and her husband, Edmund D. Campbell.

In September, THE WAR, a seven-part series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, premieres and earns nationwide acclaim. WETA and its partners host an array of events featuring the filmmakers, including a public event on the National Mall.

In November, WETA launches AdLit.org, an online service targeting educators and parents of adolescent readers and focusing on ways to help students in grades four through 12 to read and write better.

On December 17, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer begins broadcasting in high definition.

February 2008