In 1893, the American inventor Nikolai Tesla demonstrated a wireless radio in St. Louis, Missouri. Despite this demonstration, Guglielmo Marconi, an English inventor, is the person credited as the father and inventor of the radio. Marconi was awarded the very first wireless telegraphy patent in England in 1896. Tesla’s patent request was granted in 1900. Marconi became the first person to transmit signals across the Atlantic Ocean.
Bob Larson
Radio was primarily used to contact ships out at sea. Voice radio communications were not very clear, so operators used Morse code messages instead. During WWI, the military used radio in sending and receiving messages to their armed forces without the need for a messenger.
After WWI, broadcasting stations in the U.S. and Europe began to surface. In 1920, the Westinghouse Company created the first commercial broadcast radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh. Radio Corporation of America (RCA) owned the patent on radio receivers, thus allocated many vendors to manufacture radio sets for the home.
During World War II, radio helped journalists, who relayed news of the war to the public. The government used radio to gain public support for the war. Broadcast radio also became a source of weekly programs such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and others. After the war, radio began to focus more on music. The “Top-40” music programs became extremely popular on radio until they became synonymous with each another.
Today, radio has become much more with satellite and streaming internet stations gaining popularity. In addition, there is two-way radio used by first responders, airlines, military, businesses, NASA, truckers, and of course, the public. This is another great example of technology benefitting our planet.
~ Bob Larson is a technologist and Marketing Director for 50 Plus!