Radio

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People using a radio

‎A radio is a device that either transmits or receives signals sent using low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Radio is widely used in modern communications. The first person to experimant with radio waves was Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in 1886. One of the major pioneers of Radio technology was Nikola Tesla. Tesla's theories and experiments lead to the demonstration of the first remote controlled vehicle and practical transmission equipment. The first Trans-Atlantic radio transmission was made by Guglielmo Marconi. As a fledgling technology the use of wireless transmissions did not have a standardized protocols until the sinking of the Titanic lead to the creation of a 24 hour emergency radio watch.

Radio as a communication device was quickly to come into it's own during the Great War but did not come into major general use until small portable communication systems were developed. With the use of radio for the transmission of important military information also lead to creation of code books and electronic encoding devices. Two examples of these are the American Navaho Code Talkers and the German Enigma Machine. Because of how important knowing enemy information is and attempting to keep it secret lead to massive code breaking and code creation efforts. The best known of these would be the Allied breaking of the 'perfect' Enigma machine as part of ULTRA by mathematicians and linguists at Bletchley Park. This also lead to the creation of what may be the first electronic computer the Colossus or Turing Bombe that was used to streamline the decoding process.

Commercial Radio transmission was quick to follow with the adoption of radio as a means of public information and entertainment. The use of Commercial radio networks didn't start to come into it's own until the 1920's when the first commercially available Crystal and Vacuum Tube Radio sets were generally publicly available. National broadcasting networks were set up including NBC, by the RCA Corporation, CBS, and the BBC. The early days of radio introduced programs of music, news, drama and sports broadcasting. Many well known News and Radio programs had their start in this period including Meet the Press, The Morning Show, Mercury Broadcast Theater, and Music and the Spoken Word. The nickname for Daytime Dramas AKA Soap Operas came from the advertisements for soap products that were exclusive to those programs. One notable and well known Radio broadcast was the Halloween radio play on October 30, 1938 of H G Wells The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles one of the best known radio dramas ever broadcast. The public response to the broadcast showed just how much radio had become a part of everyday life in not just the United States but the entire world.


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