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The Discovery of Radio Waves
Radio waves were discovered in a seires of experiments by a German Physicist named Heinrich Hertz. The set up for the experiment was two rods serving as receivers and a spark gap which worked as a receiving antennae. A spark ,which had electromagnetic properties, would jump between the two rods. -
The Invention of the Radio
Even though the invention of the radio is surronded by speculation, many signs point to Nikolia Tesla being the first to invent it. Although many say that Guglielmo Marconi was the first inventor of the radio, because he got the first patient for the wireless telegragh. A little later Marconi became the first person to send a radio signal across the Atlantic. -
The Invention of the Diode Valve
Receivers were very weak back in the day, and had a hard time on picking up signals. Amborse Fleming, a professor at the University College London, studied the Edison effect and wondered if it could be used for detecting radio signals. The diode valve was invented a greatly helped the receiver strength in radio. -
World War 1
Radio received increasing popularity during World War 1 for its many advantages. People and armies were able to receive war news on their radio and warnings of incoming attacks. Radio stations became so important that the Belgians had to burn down their radio station in oreder to keep it from the German army. -
The First Radio Station
The KDKA was invented in 1920, by the Westinghouse Company. During the 1920's radios grew in popularity, moving into people's houses. Other radio stations were created at the time, such as the BBC. -
The Creation of the Federal Radio Commissions (FRC)
The FRC was a committee created by the US government in 1926 to regulate radio use. Before the FRC, many people could own and operate a radio station. The FRC required people to have a Radio Licenses to avoid the confusion of too many radio broadcasters. -
Soap Operas
Soap Operas are dramatized stories that are broadcasted over the radio. Many of Soup Operas at the time were aimed towards women, because housewives were the predominant viewers. The first Soap Opera was called "Painted Dreams" and it followed the relationship between a widowed mother and her daughter. -
Frequency Modulation or FM Radio
The invention of Frequecy Modulation, or FM, allowed for stronger radio signals with less radio frequency interference. Edwin Armstrong made the discovery of FM, and he pushed for many years to show people the adventages of FM. His hard work and efforts pulled off, because FM radio was widely used to this day. -
Transistor Radios
Before Transistor Radios, radios used vacuum tubes which requred a lot of power and space. Transistors allowed radios to be much smaller and run off of batteries. Even though Transistor Radios wern't very popular when they first came out, they grew in popularity in the 1960's with the portable transistor radios. -
Launch of Sputnik 1
An author named Arthur C. Clarke wrote about the revolutionary idea of satellites. He wrote that a satellite in geostationary orbit would be able to transmit radio signals for thousands of miles. This idea was tested with the launch of the Sputnik 1 which was able to transmit a bleep while in orbit.
