1964 - Top of the Pops is first broadcast from Manchester on new year's day, presented by Jimmy Savile. Acts featured include The Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield, with a filmed contribution from the week's number one act, The Beatles, with I Want to Hold Your Hand. The show goes out at 6.30pm on Wednesdays.
1967 - Top of the Pops moves to London, and forms strong links with the newly founded pop station Radio 1, with DJs such as Kenny Everett presenting.
1968 - first appearance by the dance troupe Pan's People, who are used to fill the stage when that week's charting acts were not available. They survived for 10 years into the punk era, and end up having to find dance moves for The Clash.
1972 - the first airing of the theme tune based on Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Although other themes are used over the years, Whole Lotta Love was reintroduced in 1998.
1973 - the programme moves to Friday, and then swaps back to Thursday after a ratings collapse.
1979 - Top of the Pops' highest ratings, assisted by an ITV strike, of 19 million.
1991 - producers admit that most acts mime, but promise that the vocal track will now be live.
1994 - spin-off show TOTP2 is launched: a weekly compilation of old Top of the Pops clips.
1996 - Top of the Pops moves from its Thursday berth to Friday evening.
2003 - the show goes out on the World Service for the first time and is relaunched by former presenter Andi Peters to include more "editorial content".
2004 - after ratings fall to just 2.6 million viewers, the show is moved from BBC1 to BBC2 in a Sunday night slot to move it nearer to the Radio 1 chart show.
2006 - ratings have now fallen to around the 1 million mark. The BBC decides to axe the show after 42 years.
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