It all started with a singing lamb. 

On today’s date 85 years ago, the first televised weather report occurred.

Sponsored by Botany, a manufacturer of wrinkle-proof ties, a cartoon character called Wooly Lamb came on the screen of experimental New York City station WNBT-TV to introduce the forecast in song, singing, "It's hot. It's cold. It's rain. It's fair. It's all mixed up together. But I, as Botany's Wooly Lamb, predict tomorrow's weather."

This was followed by a screen of text that contained the next day's forecast.

It was a modest start. At a time when there were fewer than 6,000 television sets being used in the entire country, the audience for Wooly Lamb’s weather report was likely viewed by a couple hundred people at most.

But it was the beginning of what would eventually become a daily ritual for millions.

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Lead Editor Chris DeWeese writes and edits a variety of newsletters for The Weather Channel.