TODAY IN HISTORY: World's richest man bought TV station so he could watch whatever he wanted
At the time, television stations in Las Vegas would stop broadcasting at 11pm.
By purchasing a station, Hughes could have something to watch at all times.
But Hughes was a fickle broadcaster. Other viewers of the station could find the scheduled movie stopping midway through in favour of something else.
Or the movie would switch back to the beginning without warning.
All on the orders of Hughes, who would call the station with orders to broadcast whatever suited him.
The wealthy heir of an oil drilling parts inventor, Hughes was a household name in the 1920s and 1930s as a famed film producer, aviator and Hollywood playboy.
But after a near-fatal plane crash in 1946 he became profoundly germophobic and eccentric.
Vanishing from public view, he would only have his hair cut and nails trimmed once a year.
As he was living in seclusion in Las Vegas, he systematically worked to turn the city into a glamorous destination free from its previous ties to the mafia.
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