our world and welcome to it

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Vintage Ad #260: Our World
Forty years ago today, the world shrank a little more.

Our World was the first TV program to be broadcast live around the world via satellite. 19 countries were slated to contribute, but five countries (USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and East Germany) pulled, allegedly to protest the recent Six-Day War in Israel. The BBC spent nearly a year preparing the broadcast, which was seen by over 400 million people in 31 countries.

The most-repeated clip from the show is the UK's contribution, where the Beatles debuted a new song that captured one of the main themes of the summer of '67. See if you can spot some of the other notable rock stars in the audience.

(Apologies for the picture quality - this is the fullest, non-colourized clip I was able to find).

CBC carried a "pre-game" show, featuring remarks from Marshall McLuhan, which you can watch over at the CBC Archives. This clip also features Canada's contributions to the full broadcast: ranching in Alberta and leisure time at Kitsilano Beach.

Link: Wikipedia entry, which appears to rely on the CBC's info.

Ad source: Toronto Life, July 1967 

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