Coronation first major international event broadcast on television

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the first major international event to be broadcast on television.

There was considerable debate in the Cabinet at the time about whether the ceremony should be filmed and Prime Minister Winston Churchill was against the idea, but the young Queen insisted on having the television cameras in.

1953 was the first year sales of television sets outstripped those of radios in Britain, with the Coronation thought to be the reason.

The RAF flew the film across to Canada so that audiences there could watch the event the same day - the first ever non-stop flights between Britain and the Canadian mainland.