I didn't complete it, I didn't know why,
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On August 4th, 1986, Ted Turner's cable television conglomerate acquired the pre-1986 MGM library, which included cartoons (such as Tom and Jerry) and most of the movies we see on TCM in Europe, the RKO library which included such shows as "Gilligan's Island" and Gilligan's Planet, as well as a truckload of old cartoons from before 1950 (mainly Looney TUnes).
He already had a channel to showcase his library, TBS but it wasn't until 1988, with the launch of TNT, that his showcase got major prominence. TNT aired the new library, and in 1991, he acquired Hanna-Barbera and the Ruby-Spears library.
On October 1st, 1992, at 12 noon, Droopy launched an ACME bomb (according to some sources) and launched the world's first and only Cartoon Network. The first cartoon shown was a Merrie Melodies short called Rhapsody Rabbit.
Initially, the channel was carried on cable companies in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Detroit. From then on, cartoons were shown at any time of day (unless you can count The Flintstones, Top Cat and The Jetsons on ABC in the 60's, as they were the first full primetime cartoons in the world).
In the beggining, there were several packaged blocks on Cartoon Network: "Down Wit' Droopy D" for Droopy, "The Tom and Jerry Show" with some Tom and Jerry episodes, "Bugs and Daffy Tonight" showcased Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, "Late Night Black and White" for Max Fleischer and Walter Lantz's cartoons from the 30's, and "ToonHeads", just like Pop Up Video on MTV (i'm portuguese, please don'e complain) with a themed package of three shorts. There was also "The Acme Hour", named after ACME, and had, well, Road Runner and Coyote shorts. Cartoon Network launched its first inernational versions in 1993, for Latin America and Europe.
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And now you know the rest of the story.
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