This Is CBS From a few radio stations to television's "Tiffany Network" to the Internet and beyond, follow the history of CBS.

1928 William Paley, 27, links 16 independent radio stations to form the Columbia Broadcasting System. The network quickly grows, taking on 47 affiliates.

1931 CBS station W2XAB in New York City begins broadcasting the first regular television schedule. The audience, about 9,000 sets in the area, is small, and concerns about whether the new medium would grow during the depression helps send it temporarily off the air in 1933.

1937 As World War II begins to unfold in Europe, CBS sends Edward R. Murrow and a team of young radio reporters overseas. The frontline dispatches from "Murrow's Boys" stand as a pioneering moment in journalism.

1938 A Halloween eve edition of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater radio program on CBS features a dramatic adaptation of the HG Wells sci-fi novel "War of the Worlds." The broadcast sends many listeners into a panic and is now regarded as one of the greatest modern hoaxes.

1939 Television is introduced to the masses at the World's Fair in New York.

1940 CBS engineer Peter Goldmark invents the first color television. Eight years later, his team also develops the long-playing record.

1948 The CBS television network is launched with five stations. The first show to be broadcast is a behind-the-scenes look at the hit play "Mr. Roberts," starring Henry Fonda. Later in the year, Douglas Edwards anchors the first edition of "The CBS Evening News."

1951 The trademark CBS Eye logo makes its debut during station breaks.

1954 Following the example of NBC's "Today," CBS unveils "The Morning Show," hosted by Walter Cronkite.

1957 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev appears unrehearsed on an episode of CBS News' "Face The Nation." The New York Times says the broadcast is "the season's most extraordinary hour of broadcasting."

1960 The plight of migrant workers struggling against corporate farm owners is documented in Edward R. Murrow's landmark CBS News special, "Harvest of Shame."

1963 CBS is the first network to report President Kennedy has been shot in Texas. Shortly after, Walter Cronkite, in the anchor chair he only recently took over from Douglas Edwards, confirms his death to a sorrowful nation.

1964 A CBS primetime news special hosted by Harry Reasoner explores the newly-documented risks of cigarette smoking, despite the tobacco industry's role as a major source of television advertising.

1965 A holiday tradition is born with the premiere of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on CBS. The following year there's a second present under the tree, when "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" airs for the first time.

1968 Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner anchor the first edition of CBS News' "60 Minutes." The show initially airs biweekly on Tuesday evenings.

1971 After a 23-year run on CBS, the curtain falls on the Ed Sullivan variety show. The Sunday night institution produced some of television's most memorable moments, including the American debut of the Beatles.

1978 The prime-time soap opera "Dallas" premieres on CBS. Set in the Texas oilfields, the episode that answered the cliffhanger "Who shot JR?" (Sue Ellen's sister, Kristin) was television's most watched hour to date when it aired in 1980.

1981 "And that's the way it is"... CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite retires, and Dan Rather takes over at the desk. Meanwhile, over at "60 Minutes," Andy Rooney's weekly commentaries make their debut.

1983 The final episode of the CBS sitcom "MASH" draws 105 million viewers, which remains the biggest television audience ever some 20 years later. The show about Korean War medics has an 11-year run, 8 years longer than the war itself.

1986 Nine CBS News correspondents and 18 camera crews film "48 Hours on Crack Street," an in-depth news special that leads to the creation of "48 Hours."

1987 Russia's new openness policy of Glastnost allows for nine CBS News correspondents, led by Dan Rather, Ed Bradley and Diane Sawyer, to travel to Russia to report a two-hour special, "The Soviet Union, Seven Days in May."

1990 CBS founder William Paley dies at the age of 89.

1992 In a speech delivered after the L.A. riots, Vice President Dan Quayle blames a breakdown of social mores and attacks the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown." He cites the title character for "mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice."

1993 Late night comedian David Letterman leaves NBC to join CBS. "The Late Show With David Letterman" is the network's first-ever late night ratings hit.

1995 Westinghouse buys CBS for $5.4 billion, creating the nation's largest TV and radio conglomerate.

1998 CBS goes online with the launch of the CBS.com and CBSNews.com Web sites.

1999 In the nation's richest media merger, Viacom buys CBS. It's a reunion for the pair of entertainment giants, which were separated two decades earlier because of government rules, since repealed.

June 1, 2004 The Board of Directors of Viacom Inc., which owns CBS, announces Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves have been appointed co-presidents and co-chief operating officers, succeeding Mel Karmazin.

Jan. 10, 2005 CBS News ousts four staffers, including three executives, in the wake of a scathing report by an independent panel looking into a Sept. 8, 2004, 60 Minutes Wednesday news story on President Bush’s National Guard duty that aired Sept. 8, 2004.

March 9, 2005 Veteran CBS newsman Dan Rather ends 24 years as CBS Evening News anchor with a simple message: "Courage." Bob Schieffer succeeds him on an interim basis. Rather stays on as a correspondent for 60 Minutes.

June 2005 Viacom Inc. announces it will split into two companies: One anchored by its fast-growing cable networks such as MTV, led by longtime MTV chief Tom Freston; and another built around the broadcast television businesses, including CBS News, run by CBS head Les Moonves.

Oct. 26, 2005 It is announced that Sean McManus, who has served as president of CBS Sports since 1996, has been named president of CBS News and Sports, effective Nov. 7. McManus succeeds Andrew Heyward.

March 14, 2006 CBS newsman Mike Wallace, who has been with "60 Minutes" since its inception in 1968, announces he'll retire as a regular correspondent on the show in the spring. Wallace will remain at CBS News as Correspondent Emeritus.

April 5, 2006 It is announced that Katie Couric will become anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric beginning in September 2006. Couric also will contribute to "60 Minutes."

Sept. 5, 2006 Couric takes her seat in history as the first woman to solo as anchor of a network evening news show.

Nov. 9, 2006 Ed Bradley, the award-winning television journalist who broke racial barriers at CBS News and created a distinctive, powerful body of work during his 26 years on "60 Minutes," dies of leukemia in New York. He was 65.

May 15, 2008 CBS Corporation enters into an agreement to acquire CNET Networks, Inc., owner of many entertainment, news and e-commerce Web sites, for $11.50 per share. This acquisition stands to make CBS one of the top 10 most popular Internet companies in the U.S.

Credits: CBS News, "CBS The First 50 Years" by Tony Chiu