JFK on Telstar

Among the first TV images to travel via Telstar were a still image of Mount Rushmore, shots of an American flag waving in the wind, and pictures of French singer Yves Montand. (Apparently, Telstar could only handle rather brief TV signals.) The early transmissions also included video from a July 23, 1962, press conference held by President John Kennedy, which, in the portentous words of the Universal-International News newsreel account, allowed "most of Europe [to] witness democracy at work."