1975

Wheel of Fortune debuts as an
NBC network daytime program.

1982

Vanna White makes her debut as
the first woman co-host of a
game show.

1987

Contestants no longer "shop" for prizes
displayed in the studio (such as cars,
furniture, trips, furs, and jewelry).

1990

The series becomes
the first game show to
be closed captioned.

1993

Pat Sajak wins his first Daytime Emmy
Award as Outstanding Game Show Host;
the 2,000th show in syndication aired; TV
Guide describes the series as "unques-
tionably the most popular television game
show on earth."

1996

Wheel of Fortune is an official
sponsor of the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta.

1998

The series celebrates its 3000th
nationally- syndicated episode in Las
Vegas with a special historical retro-
spective.

2000

The Wheelmobile, a
32-foot long, 13-foot
high bright yellow
Winnebago that
travels the country in
search of contes-
tants, is introduced.

2006

Vanna White receives a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame; the series
begins broadcasting in High Definition.

1981

Pat Sajak joins
the series as host.

1983

September 5, 1983 -
The syndicated version
of the series debuts.

1988

Wheel of Fortune takes the show on
the road. The serires marks its first
on-location taping in New York City.

1992

Vanna White is recognized in The
Guinness Book of World Records as
"Television's Most Frequent Clapper."

1994

Pat Sajak receives a
star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame

1997

Pat Sajak wins his second Daytime
Emmy Award as Outstanding Game
Show Host; Vanna White stops "turning"
letters and instead starts "touching"
them on an electronic puzzleboard.

1999

Pat Sajak wins his third Daytime Emmy
Award for Outstanding Game Show Host;
the series teams up with Internet service
provider EarthLink and produces
television's first-ever dot.com sweep-
stakes, giving away more than $1 million
in cash prizes.

2003

The Wheel Watchers
Club, the first-ever
loyalty program in televi-
sion history, is intro-
duced and quickly
grows to include almost
4 million members.

2007

Wheel of Fortune celebrates
its milestone 25th anniversary.