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Nikola Tesla wirelessly transmitted electromagnetic energy. He made the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis in 1893.
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Guglielmo Marconi filed for patent protection of his radio apparatus. He established the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company in 1897.
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First transAtlantic signal sent-by Marconi from Ireland to Canada.
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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.”
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Reginald Fessenden is the 1st to transmit a program of speech and music.
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First radio transmission from an airplane.
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All U.S. radio stations not needed by the government are closed as WWI begins.
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The first on-air advertisement was carried by a New York station
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The first permanent national network, NBC, was formed. CBS followed a year later.
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The Federal Radio Commission established to bring order to chaotic airwaves.
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FDR broadcast the first of his 30 “fireside chats”
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CBS Radio broadcasts H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds.
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Cellular radio telephony, with call handoff and frequency reuse, was conceived at Bell Laboratories
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Texas Instruments produces the first commercial transistor radio, launching the portable electronic age.
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XM Radio