-
First event
Heinrich Hertz proved that electricity can be transmitted in electromagnetic waves. He conducted experiments in sending and receiving these waves during the late 1880s. -
Second event
Radios (what we’d call wireless telegraphs today) began to
appear on ships at sea. This reduced the isolation of the ships thus improving both reliability and safety -
Third event
Nikola Tesla wirelessly transmitted electromagnetic energy.
He made the first public demonstration of radio in St.
Louis in 1893. -
Fourth event
Guglielmo Marconi filed for patent protection of his radio apparatus. He established the Wireless Telegraph and Signal
Company in 1897. -
Fifth event
The R.F. Matthews was the first ship to request emergency
assistance using a wireless apparatus (Marconi’s system) -
Sixth event
First transAtlantic signal sent by Marconi from Ireland to
Canada. -
Eighth event
Lee DeForest produces the “Audion,” a triode vacuum tube that allowed for amplification of radio signals. -
Ninth event
First radio transmission from an airplane. -
Tenth Event
Federal regulation of American airwaves begins. Amateurs had to be licensed; ships had to have a radio and trained operators. -
Eleventh Event
All U.S. radio stations not needed by the government
are closed as WWI begins. -
Twelveth event
Edwin Armstrong patented the Super Heterodyne Receiver based on work he did as an officer in the Army Signal Corp. -
Fourteenth event
The Federal Radio Commission established to bring
order to chaotic airwaves. -
Fifteenth event
Cellular radio telephony, with call handoff and frequency reuse, was conceived at Bell Laboratories -
Sixteenth event
The FCC reallocated TV channels 70-83 for mobile
radio services. -
Seventeenth event
The FCC permitted spread spectrum, the technology of choice for many of today’s digital, commercial cellular and PCS services. -
Seventh event
Amateur (today known as “ham”) radio introduced to the U.S. via a Scientific American article on “How to Construct an
Efficient Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus at Small Cost.” -
Eighteenth event
The FCC reallocated spectrum at 2 GHz for emerging digital mobile services. -
Nineteenth event
The first cellular system using digital CDMA technology was commercially launched by QUALCOMM.
