Short answers, pulled from the story.
Top of the Pops first aired on Wednesday, the 1st of January 1964, at 6:35 pm, broadcast from Dickenson Road Studios in Rusholme, Manchester. It was presented by Jimmy Savile and produced by Johnnie Stewart.
Top of the Pops ran for over 42 years, from the 1st of January 1964 to the 30th of July 2006, making it the world's longest-running weekly music show. The BBC formally announced the cancellation on the 20th of June 2006.
Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be with You" was the first song featured on Top of the Pops, performed on the inaugural edition of the 1st of January 1964. The Rolling Stones were the first band to perform live on the show, with "I Wanna Be Your Man".
Cliff Richard appeared the most times of any individual artist, with almost 160 performances. Among groups, Status Quo holds the record with 106 appearances, beginning with "Pictures of Matchstick Men" in 1968 and ending with "The Party Ain't Over Yet" in 2005.
The peak audience was 19 million viewers, recorded in 1979 during an ITV strike when only BBC One and BBC Two were broadcasting. During its heyday the show typically attracted 15 million viewers each week.
The vast majority of episodes before 1976 were lost because wiping videotape for reuse was standard BBC practice at the time. Of the first 500 episodes, only around 20 complete recordings remain. The earliest surviving footage dates from the 26th of February 1964.