I love trivia like this. Most historians agree that HBO in the U.S. was the first really major pay TV service on cable in North America, despite flirtations with the idea before that. So what was the first thing subscribers to what was then called Home Box Office saw for their money back in 1972?

An NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers. 

And the first commercial free movie that followed was hardly a blockbuster. It was a 1971 Paul Newman flick called "Sometimes A Great Notion." It also starred Henry Fonda and no, I've never heard of it, either. But for viewers seeing an almost brand new film commercial free that soon must have been quite the novelty. 

Still, not that many were watching. On its very first night, Nov. 8, 1972, the service had exactly 375 subscribers, all restricted to the company's original hometown in Pennsylvania. 

All these years later, it's still around and while it remains a U.S. cable mainstay, it now sells its HBOMax (the name keeps changing) streaming service as its main attraction. 

HBO Launched With a Hockey Game, a Paul Newman–Henry Fonda Movie, and 375 Subscribers