September 27, 1954 –
Steve Allen sat down at his piano and the Tonight Show premiered nationally on NBC on this date.
The show began in 1953 as a local show on WNBT-TV, the NBC station in New York City. Tonight! began in 1954 when Sylvester L. Weaver Jr., the president of NBC, decided to expand the network’s programming past the 11:00 p.m. local news. Weaver wanted his night-time entry to be something along the lines of Today : some news and light features with interviews.
The Haus of Dcaligari 