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Radio Invented
Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor. He both sent and received the first radio signals in 1895. It is unknown whether he was actually the first or just given credit due to good PR. -
Audion Tube
The Audion tube was created in 1906 by Lee De Forest. An audion tube is a vacuum to that amplifies radio signals. It's believed that Reginald Fessenden actually invented the tube but was not credited for his design. -
Titanic sinks
The sinking of the titanic highlighted and proved the importance of wireless communications on ships. Without the use of the radio on the titanic, people wouldn't have known what was going on. After this, radios started becoming a norm on boats and ships. -
First music broadcast
the first time music was broadcast on the radio was in the year 1917. Once radio stations realized that people loved it, they began to play music regularly, in addition to their normal radio talk shows. Because technology wasn't very advanced at this time, they broadcast live music rather than the recordings we have now. -
KDKA
KDKA was the first radio station to broadcast vocals and music. The station began as "8XK" but was later renamed "KDKA". The station was invented by Frank Conrad and still broadcasts today out of Pittsburg Pennsylvania. -
Advertising
In 1922 a radio station by the name of WEAF aired the first radio commercial. It advertised an apartment complex. The commercial, or toll broadcast, was ten minutes long and cost the company $50 every time the radio station aired it. -
Uncle Charlie stations
When radio first started becoming popular, anyone could own a radio station. Everyone wanted their own personal radio station, thus causing the creation of the FRc a few years later. When everyoe in the neighborhood is trying to broadcast it causes issues with Professional radio stations. -
FRC
When Uncle Charlie stations became popular, companies began to get irritated that the advertisements they payed for weren't being heard. The solution to this was creating the FRC (Federal Radio Commission) in 1927. This organized the owning of transmitter licenses, and assigning of frequencies, power limits, and call letters. -
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Golden Era
Pal though cut rather short, the golden era was a great one. Families would gather around and listen to their shows together and just have a good time. The era ran into troubles when television started becoming popular. -
FM Transmitter
The FM Transmitter was invented by Edwin Armstrong in 1933. He invented it for higher quality sound and a strnger signal. This forced everyone to buy new radio sets; AM was used for talk radio, while FM was used for music.
