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In 1887, the first radio waves were succesfully discovered by Heinrich Hertz. Hertz's experiments proved the theory that Maxwell stated. The results of his experiments were released in 1890 to the public.
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In 1895, the first radio signal was sent. The man who sent it was Marconi. There is controversy over whether he was the first person to send and recive a radio wave.
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In July of 1901, Tesla started construction on the Wardenclyffe Tower, a wireless transmission facility. The construction ran smoothly until 1905. In 1905, it ran out of funding, and was never completed
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On March 22, 1902, Julio Baviera founded the Spanish Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. After developing radio in Spain, he patened it in Spain, Belgium, Germany, and England. The corporation was founded after Baviera collaberated with Marconi.
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In 1906 Lee De Forest "created " the Audion Tube, which was the first amplifier. It made it possible to spread radio signals more than five or ten miles away. This was a crucial part of radio, since it basically and literally spread it.
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On Dec. 24, 1906, Reginald Fessenden played live music on a radio transmitter. It was O Holy Night on the Violin. He also read verses from the bible, and gave a speech.
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On Nov 6, 1919, the first regular wireless broadcast for entertainment was created. It was transmissioned by Hanso Schotanus à Steringa Idzerda, a Dutch Engineer. He continued his broadcasts until 1924, because of financial troubles.
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In 1920, Frank Conrad created the first radio station, where vocals and music were actually heard. It was first called 8XK, then it was later renamed to KDKA. It is still around today.
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In 1922, the first commerical on the radio was played. WEAF aired a ten minute commerical for an Apartment Complex, only costing $50. This is how radio stations are funded. Nowadays, people pay about $5000 for thirty seconds of their commercial
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The FRC (Federal Radio Commision) was created in 1927. This was established to regulate radio stations. You had to have a liscense to own a transmitter. Also they added radio station frequencies, call letters, and power limits.
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This was when radio was at its finest. America was having tough times because of the Great Depression and World War II, so they needed an escape. To escape from all the negative things, they listened to the radio for hours.
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On June 17, 1936, the first FM radio station (W1XOJ) was presented to the FCC. The was very significant in the musical standpoint of Radio. Since FM waves are stronger and higher quality than AM waves, radio stations started to be created on FM for music.
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As the late 30's came, radio started to fall. As TV grew, advertisers started to go towards TV more than radio. Also as more and more radio stations lost money, they jumped ship to TV. This is just like what happened when cars started to be built
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On Oct 4, 1957, the Sputnik One was launched. The Sputnik one was the first satellite in space. You may be wondering "What does this have to do with radio?" Well, it sent a radio transmission back to Earth, which proved that satellites can be put into orbit.
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On June 1, 1961, WHTZ was created. Oh, you dont know what WHTZ is? Its only the most popular radio station in the history of the US. WHTZ is stationed in New Jersey, and serves in the Metropolitan area of New York.
