Remember when the 'M' in MTV stood for usic?
If you remember TV before there was MTV, you're old.
If you remember that MTV debuted at one minute past midnight on this day in 1981, you're old but you have a good memory.
If you remember that MTV's first minute on air started with "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," and the first clip came from the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles, you're old and, frankly, kind of pathetic.
Still, MTV did make "music video" and "VJ" household terms, and it was one of the earliest and biggest successes of cable TV. So play some Duran, Duran on your iPod and put some gel in your hair to celebrate.
Happy birthday, MTV. You don't look a day over 29.
-Source: Museum of Broadcast Communications
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