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The telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse and it revolutionized long-distance communication. In 1844, he sent the first telegraph message from Washington to Maryland. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations (History, 2009).
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In 1887, Heinrich Hertz proved physical existence of radio waves. He used a transmitter that consisted of a simple spark gap across an induction coil with a loop of wire that acted as an antenna (Milestones, 2016).
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In 1895 the first wireless telegraph was invented by Gugliemo Marconi. He developed an effective system of communication through wireless transmission by first grounding Hertz's coils to the earth. He incorporated Morse code and was able to send the letter "s" over the Atlantic Ocean (History, 2009). This later went on to become the radio.
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In 1904, Ambrose Fleming invented the diode valve. This was a device that consisted of heated element in an evacuated glass bulb; an area for electric current to flow (Milestones, 2016).
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In 1905, Marconi went on to invent the directional radio antennae. This would help with transmitting and receiving radio waves (WCBN, 2000).
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In 1906, the first broadcast for entertainment and music was transmitted by Reginald Fessenden. This technology was a revolutionary departure from transmission of dots and dashes (Milestones, 2016).
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During this time, the radio became very apparent and useful to this specific audience, the military. The military used it exclusively for it had become a tool to send and receive messages from the armed forces. It was also an important item to vessels in the water, especially during emergency situations (Wood, 1997).
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In 1919, the government released control of all patents, and the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was established (Sonos, 2012).
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Between 1900 and the 1920's, scientists worked hard to improve and advance Marconi's invention. After the diode valve, came the triode, amplifiers, superhet, and other technological advances that built the radio (History, 2009).
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In 1920, KDKa signed on as the nation's first licensed commercial station and reported on the presidential race (Vivian, 2013).
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The 1927 Federal Radio Act created a government agency to license radio stations (Vivian, 2013). This reduced the number of stations through licensing.
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In 1930, during The Great Depression, people turned to the radio for entertainment and comfort. President Roosevelt became the first "radio president" (Sonos, 2012).
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Edwin Armstrong had already improved AM radio, but in 1933 he introduced FM radio. FM is short for frequency modulation (Vivian, 2013). FM was a clearer radio signal and cleaned up static interference.
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Between the 1940's and 1950's, America saw a great advancement in radio. FM stations grew, going from around 40 FM stations to around 600 FM stations on the air (Sterling, 2002).
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The radio became even more popular in 1947 because of the invention of the portable radio (Bazley, 2016).
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Becker's iconic Mexico radio launched the first premium in-car radio in 1953. It had AM/FM and the first fully automatic station-search button (Berkowitz, 2010).
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Entering into the 1960's, Gordon McLendon invented all-news radio. All-news radio is a niche format that delivers only news related informational content and commentary (Vivian, 2013). This lead to stations trying to gain the largest audience possible.
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Around the 1980's, live listener telephone calls was a new feature to the talk formats of radio (Vivian, 2013). In involved the audience in discussions on public issues, through the radio.
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In 1996, Dave Ryan joined the radio show KDWB as a morning talk show host. This is my favorite radio station, and the morning show has been a part of my day for years. This station keeps the audience up to date on celebrity gossip, political issues, and incorporates listeners lives into segments they have.
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In 2001, satellite radio went on air. There were two operations, Sirius and XM. It provided digital quality sound and much of it was commercial free (Vivian, 2013). Satellite radio attracted a large audience for satellite radio was nothing like terrestrial radio.
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Around 2013, FM radio became accessible through cellphones (Bowman, 2015). Many phones came with built-in radio chips which helped keep the radio industry effective more than 120 years after the first radio broadcast.
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According to the UN, around 44,000 radio stations broadcast to at least five billion people worldwide. Radio is a platform that allows people to interact with one another on many different levels. Radios are in households, cars, and workplaces around the world (Bazley, 2016).
