1926: "Sam 'n' Henry" first premiered  on Chicago's WGN radio. The program, created by and starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, in "blackface" - evolved into "Amos 'n' Andy," running until 1948 and jumping to television in 1951.

Gosden and Correll on  the air at WMAQ. Early in 1928, Gosden and Correll pressed WGN to allow them to record the increasingly popular Sam 'n' Henry show and to distribute  pressings to stations beyond WGN's normal broadcast range. WGN, fearful of losing control of its hottest property, refused. When their WGN contract expired  not long thereafter, Gosden and Correll entered into an agreement with WMAQ  (then owned by the Chicago Daily News) that allowed them to syndicate their  broadcasts through recordings. Since WGN owned the rights to the Sam 'n'  Henry title, Gosden and Correll were obliged to find new names for their  characters. Thus on WMAQ Sam 'n' Henry became Amos 'n' Andy.