EOTO 1 "First Radio"

                                              

                                   First Radio 

 The radio was invented by a collective group of inventors who transformed the technological world forever. In 1820, Hans Christian Oersted discovered electromagnetic waves and learned that electromagnetic currents were in wires. After years of research, a physics professor named James Clerk Maxwell discovered that electric currents can be reached from a faraway distance. An Italian creator named Guglielmo Marconi brought this new intellectual innovation of the radio to life. 

In 1907 Lee De Forest created a patented audion signal detector that intensified radio signals broadcasting live segments. Then a man named Charles Doc Herrold perfected the radio so that local broadcasts could be scheduled. All these men from Oersted to Herrold were master crafters. Each added his own touch and together succeeded in inventing the modern-day radio.     

 Nearly one hundred years ago, the radio was the main source of technology. People were drawn toward this incredible invention. The radio played a crucial role as the communication system once America entered WWI. The radio allowed American soldiers to hear what was going on at home on American soil.  

 The public loved the popular radio, so it was necessary for it to continuously change and improve. The first radio was the main primetime technology from the 1920s to the 1950s which allowed Americans to listen to the news, politics, music, and everyday leisure activities. The radio signals had to be broadcast over great distances to reach many American homes.  

 Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the radio, began his experiment by broadcasting from shorter distances, testing his theories, and perfecting his craft. In 1901 he founded his radio company and sent a radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean.  A signal reaching this distance was revolutionary at the time.  

 On December 24th

, 1906, radio operators heard the voice of
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, an assistant of Thomas Edison. This was an incredibly revolutionary event. On Christmas Eve, instead of receiving Morse code inscriptions, they heard Fessenden’s actual voice. To prove his message was transmitted correctly, he played “O Holy Night” on his violin and read a bible verse to the radio workers.  

 Having worked for Thomas Edison, the light bulb inventor, Fessenden was skilled with technology. He found a way in which radio frequencies could travel at a high rate of speed so that a human voice could be heard for longer periods.     

 This extended vocal sound length led Lee De Forest to become known as the “Father of the Radio” and “Grandfather of Television” in America. Forest introduced the term live broadcasting in which he broadcast music to New York City. 

Soon after De Forest broadcast music to New York City, he introduced his radio company called De Forest Radio and Telephone Company. In 1910 he broadcast a live opera performance from the Metropolitan Opera. Weak radio signals had been transformed into powerful signals and the possibilities seemed endless.  

There were many firsts on the radio including the broadcasting of the first baseball game, the first football game, the first inauguration, and the first presidential address. KDKA, located in Pennsylvania, was known as the first radio station which aired in the 1920s. Digital Audio Broadcasting has improved the radio and is one of the major technologies used around the world today.  

 News was transformed spreading from newspapers then to Morse code through the radio and then finally to live broadcasts with people talking. Each one of these master crafters played a crucial role in the success of inventing the modern-day radio which transformed human communication forever.  

 The radio impact could be seen by people across the United States and in other parts of the world. Technology that would change the world was not just an auditory discovery, but rather an invention that would change the perception of communication.  

Messages rapidly spread from one part of the world to the other. Without the invention of the radio, America would have struggled as a nation with its communication systems. Who could have imagined that words on paper would transition to being digitally heard emanating from a tiny metal box?  

 While the radio was seen as a blessing, some people saw the radio as a curse. Many jobs were eliminated from the radio developing as the main technology source in America. The vinyl record industry saw a massive decline from music being broadcast instead of consumers buying records.   

 The Radio Act of 1927 was issued by Congress and acted upon by President Coolidge. This bill meant that broadcasting radio frequencies were accepted by the government to control foreign communication. The government would license the radio stations and determine the local frequencies. This became necessary due to the sinking of the Titanic.    

 The first radio was a technology developed and improved by many talented and brilliant inventors. Today, radio is available for all local stations to discuss current events and serve as a digital listening device for music. The first radio revolutionized the transmission of the news which would come to be known as a truly historic auditory breakthrough.