History of Radio
To invent is to create something new- something that did not exist before .An invention
can be an idea, a principle (such as democracy), a poem, a dance or a piece of music and even
some technological inventions which have practical applications .Inventions have played a
defining role in human history-transforming us from primitive hunter-gatherers into a
sophisticated, settled and self -determining species. Today’s world contains countless
technologies of various uses that enrich our lives. Not all inventions are for good, however;
some inventions causes harm, with or without human intention.
The mid nineteenth century with the punctuated technological developments of the Industrial
Revolution gave way to more sustained technological progress. The new level of sophistication
and progress enabled the European colonies to thrive-and that was the Age of Empires. The
new forms of communication and transport helped them to co -ordinate their activities across
the continents .During this time United States become the powerhouse of the inventions and
patents. Telecommunications continued to advance, with the telegraph giving way to the
telephone and the radio. One of the most world changing inventions of all time, radio has given
us television, the mobile phone, RADAR, wireless internet access, satellite navigation, radio
telescopes, and even the microwave oven.
If necessity is the mother of invention, then ingenuity is surely the father. And since ingenuity is
as innate as love, hate, kindness, and mistrust, human beings will no doubt continue to invent
new things for use in peace and war and refine those inventions already in use.
From Telegraph to Radio
Telegraphing is a way of sending messages using wires and electric current. At one end,
the sender taps out a word with a switch. Each tap completes the circuit and allows electricity
to flow. The electricity flows down wires to the receiver, where it powers an indicator dial or
pointer, enabling the operator to observe the message coming in. Samuel Thomas Von
Sommering’s early forms of telegraph were based on electrolysis, in which electricity passes
through a liquid to produce a visual effect. The message was easily deciphered by watching
which wire produced the bubbles in which there were thirty wires each representing German
alphabet. Around 1930 Schilling found that coiling electrical wire around a magnetized needle
would make it swing one way or another he used this effect called electromagnetism, in which
electricity flowing through a wire creates a magnetic field. He incorporated this phenomenon
into telegraph by using horizontally mounted needles to indicate letters. The electromagnetic
telegraph, first demonstrated in 1832, represented the first major use of electricity for
communication. Four years later, Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke patented
, their electrical telegraph, and in May 1844 Samuel Morse’s first single wire telegraph line was
opened.
Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
Named after Samuel Morse (1791-1872) Morse code is a simple code in which letters
are represented by dits and dahs. He is known as ‘The father of the International Morse Code ‘.
The code which is a milestone in long range communication was designed so that telegraph
operators could communicate via a series of electrical signals. Samuel F. B. Morse, once a
portrait painter, turned to inventing to make his fortune. Morse had little training in electricity
but realized that pulses of electrical current could convey information over wires. Morse
developed 'lightning wires' and 'Morse code,' an electronic alphabet that could carry messages.
On May 24,1844 , Morse demonstrated to the American Congress the power of telegraph by
using the code. To their awe he sent the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington
to Baltimore at a speed that no horse or car could hope to match. Thus the first form of radio
communication was “wireless telegraphy”, which involved transmitting Morse code via radio. A
skilled Morse code operator could regularly transmit and receive twenty to thirty words per
minute. Morse code is still used occasionally, especially ships. The famous SOS signal (three
dits, pause, three dahs, pause, three dits) is used as a distress signal. To support himself later in
life Morse was largely dependent on dividends from telegraph. In 1861 the two coasts of the
United States were linked by telegraph.
Canadian born Reginald Fessenden (1866-1932) caused a landmark in the development
of radio when he transmitted his own voice over radio waves late in 1900, a feat not even
Marconi had achieved. The transmitter that Fessenden used was a spark transmitter, a device
developed in the late nineteenth century by radio pioneers Hertz, Marconi and Baun to
generate radio frequency electromagnetic waves. Fessenden transmitted the first audio sound
which was “Hello, one, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are Mr.Thissen? If it is,
telegraph back and let me know,” he shouted into the microphone. Thiessen excited
telegraphed back that it was. He applied for a USA patent for the Improved radio Transmitter in
1901, and it was the first to use the same principles that AM (medium wave) radio stations use
today. Fessenden paves the way for radio broadcasting when he transmits sound over the radio
in 1906.
Nicholas Tesla /Nikola Tesla(1856-1943
In 1887 David Hughes transmitted Morse code over a short distance. A year later, Heinrich
Hertz produced and detected his own radio waves, but he did not realize its practical use. It was
only in 1891, when Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) began his researches that radio technology
To invent is to create something new- something that did not exist before .An invention
can be an idea, a principle (such as democracy), a poem, a dance or a piece of music and even
some technological inventions which have practical applications .Inventions have played a
defining role in human history-transforming us from primitive hunter-gatherers into a
sophisticated, settled and self -determining species. Today’s world contains countless
technologies of various uses that enrich our lives. Not all inventions are for good, however;
some inventions causes harm, with or without human intention.
The mid nineteenth century with the punctuated technological developments of the Industrial
Revolution gave way to more sustained technological progress. The new level of sophistication
and progress enabled the European colonies to thrive-and that was the Age of Empires. The
new forms of communication and transport helped them to co -ordinate their activities across
the continents .During this time United States become the powerhouse of the inventions and
patents. Telecommunications continued to advance, with the telegraph giving way to the
telephone and the radio. One of the most world changing inventions of all time, radio has given
us television, the mobile phone, RADAR, wireless internet access, satellite navigation, radio
telescopes, and even the microwave oven.
If necessity is the mother of invention, then ingenuity is surely the father. And since ingenuity is
as innate as love, hate, kindness, and mistrust, human beings will no doubt continue to invent
new things for use in peace and war and refine those inventions already in use.
From Telegraph to Radio
Telegraphing is a way of sending messages using wires and electric current. At one end,
the sender taps out a word with a switch. Each tap completes the circuit and allows electricity
to flow. The electricity flows down wires to the receiver, where it powers an indicator dial or
pointer, enabling the operator to observe the message coming in. Samuel Thomas Von
Sommering’s early forms of telegraph were based on electrolysis, in which electricity passes
through a liquid to produce a visual effect. The message was easily deciphered by watching
which wire produced the bubbles in which there were thirty wires each representing German
alphabet. Around 1930 Schilling found that coiling electrical wire around a magnetized needle
would make it swing one way or another he used this effect called electromagnetism, in which
electricity flowing through a wire creates a magnetic field. He incorporated this phenomenon
into telegraph by using horizontally mounted needles to indicate letters. The electromagnetic
telegraph, first demonstrated in 1832, represented the first major use of electricity for
communication. Four years later, Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke patented
, their electrical telegraph, and in May 1844 Samuel Morse’s first single wire telegraph line was
opened.
Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
Named after Samuel Morse (1791-1872) Morse code is a simple code in which letters
are represented by dits and dahs. He is known as ‘The father of the International Morse Code ‘.
The code which is a milestone in long range communication was designed so that telegraph
operators could communicate via a series of electrical signals. Samuel F. B. Morse, once a
portrait painter, turned to inventing to make his fortune. Morse had little training in electricity
but realized that pulses of electrical current could convey information over wires. Morse
developed 'lightning wires' and 'Morse code,' an electronic alphabet that could carry messages.
On May 24,1844 , Morse demonstrated to the American Congress the power of telegraph by
using the code. To their awe he sent the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington
to Baltimore at a speed that no horse or car could hope to match. Thus the first form of radio
communication was “wireless telegraphy”, which involved transmitting Morse code via radio. A
skilled Morse code operator could regularly transmit and receive twenty to thirty words per
minute. Morse code is still used occasionally, especially ships. The famous SOS signal (three
dits, pause, three dahs, pause, three dits) is used as a distress signal. To support himself later in
life Morse was largely dependent on dividends from telegraph. In 1861 the two coasts of the
United States were linked by telegraph.
Canadian born Reginald Fessenden (1866-1932) caused a landmark in the development
of radio when he transmitted his own voice over radio waves late in 1900, a feat not even
Marconi had achieved. The transmitter that Fessenden used was a spark transmitter, a device
developed in the late nineteenth century by radio pioneers Hertz, Marconi and Baun to
generate radio frequency electromagnetic waves. Fessenden transmitted the first audio sound
which was “Hello, one, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are Mr.Thissen? If it is,
telegraph back and let me know,” he shouted into the microphone. Thiessen excited
telegraphed back that it was. He applied for a USA patent for the Improved radio Transmitter in
1901, and it was the first to use the same principles that AM (medium wave) radio stations use
today. Fessenden paves the way for radio broadcasting when he transmits sound over the radio
in 1906.
Nicholas Tesla /Nikola Tesla(1856-1943
In 1887 David Hughes transmitted Morse code over a short distance. A year later, Heinrich
Hertz produced and detected his own radio waves, but he did not realize its practical use. It was
only in 1891, when Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) began his researches that radio technology
