You’ve heard the phrase “the best thing since sliced bread.” But what came first—sliced bread or TV?

Television was first demonstrated in the mid-1920s, with early inventors like John Logie Baird and Philo Farnsworth transmitting crude images over short distances. But in those early days, TV was more of a science experiment than a living room staple.

Sliced bread, on the other hand, debuted in 1928 when Otto Frederick Rohwedder’s bread-slicing machine was put to use in a Missouri bakery. It quickly became a household sensation—and gave rise to the phrase “the best thing since sliced bread.”

So while television technically came first, sliced bread reached the public—and changed daily life—long before most people even saw a TV.