Sammy Hagar (The Red Rocker) and his band break into a performance of “Summer Nights” live on the #SternShow. | The Howard Stern Show

On July 9, 1959, Sammy Davis Jr. hosted his first ever TV special. But he had to come to Canada to do it, right here to CBC. In the United States in the 1950s, corporate sponsors largely controlled what was seen on television. "Sponsors didn't see that a show hosted by a Black performer would be the kind of show they would want their product associated with," explained Canadian television historian Blaine Davis. "Presumably because consumers might be turned off by the association of their car or