Top 10 Radio Milestones

10. 1896:

2 June, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi applies for first British wireless patent.

9. 1906:

24 December, first radio programme (music and speech) broadcast by professor Reginald Fessenden from the US coast and received by ships. The first radios were crystal sets, operated by adjusting metal wires known as cat’s whiskers.

8. 1920:

15 June, Marconi broadcasts a concert by opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.

7. 1922:

18 October, BBC (British Broadcasting Company) founded. 14 Nov, first BBC broadcast made – the six o’clock news read by Arthur Burrows.

6. 1926:

24 January, launch of The Week’s Good Cause, the BBC’s longest running programme.

5. 1933:

28 August, first BBC woman announcer, Sheila Borrett.

4. 1939 – 45:

During World War II the BBC provides information and stirring speeches from Winston Churchill and other wartime leaders.

3. 1993:

First Internet radio broadcasts.

2. 1995:

First experimental DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) in UK. DAB gives listeners better quality reception, easy tuning and text information.

1. 2005:

BBC radio begins to make programmes available as podcasts that can be downloaded to computers, MP3 and DAB players.

Written by: earthwit on April 21, 2010.