from FAMOUS FIRST FACTS, Fourth Edition (1981)

                    by Joseph Nathan Kane

In the United States, the first. . .

RADIO BROADCAST DEMONSTRATION was made by Nathan B. Stubblefield in 1892.
He was the first person to transmit the voice by air without the aid of
wires.  He gave a public exhibition of his invention on January 1, 1902, and
on May 30, 1902, in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Pa., his voice was heard a
mile away from the transmitter.  He obtained patent number 887,357, on May
12, 1908, but because of his idiosyncrasies he did not permit knowledge of
his invention to be spread abroad.  Inability to obtain a fabulous sum for
his invention, as well as fear of imparting his secret before the patent was
granted, deprived him of the fame which by right of priority should have
been his.

RADIO PROGRAM BROADCAST was sent by Professor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden on
December 24, 1906, from Brant Rock, Mass.  The general call "CQ" was heard,
followed by a song, the reading of verse, a violin solo, a speech, and an
invitation to report on the kind of reception.  A 40 h.p. steam engine
driving a 35-kilowatt 125-cycle alternator, with rotary spark at a frequency
of 250 per second, was used.  The antenna consisted of a single straight
tube, 36 inches outside diameter, 429 feet high, in 8-foot sections bolted
together.  (Gleason Leonard Archer, History of Radio to 1926.)

SINGER TO BROADCAST was Eugenia H. Farrar, whose voice was broadcast by Lee
De Forest December 16, 1907, from Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y., on
the occasion of the departure of Admiral Robley Dunglison Evans ("Fighting
Bob Evans") on a cruise with the fleet.

RADIO LICENSE issued in the United States was granted George Hill Lewis of
Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1911.

EXPERIMENTAL RADIO LICENSE issued by the Department of Commerce following
the International Radio Convention and Radio Act of 1912 (37 stat. l. 302),
August 13, 1912, was serial number 1, granted St. Joseph's College,
Philadelphia, Pa. (3XJ, 2 kilowatts).

COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION was 8MK licensed August 20, 1920, now WWJ, Detroit,
Mich., which instituted daily service on August 20, 1920, with a program
"Tonight's Dinner."  Local election returns were broadcast August 31, 1920.
KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pa., offered a semi-weekly broadcast from November 2,
1920, to December 1, 1920.  KDKA was licensed October 27, 1920.

ELECTION RETURNS BROADCAST took place on August 31, 1920, when WWJ of
Detroit, Mich., broadcast the results of congressional and county primaries.
On November 2, 1920, Leo H. Rosenberg of KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pa., broadcast
the results of the Harding-Cox presidential election.  (An experimental
station, the De Forest Radio Laboratory, in the Highbridge section of the
Bronx, New York City, broadcast bulletins from the New York American on the
results of the Wilson-Hughes election for approximately six hours beginning
after dark on November 7, 1916.  The broadcasters signed off about 11 p.m.,
with the announcement that Hughes had been elected.)

NEWSPAPER TO OPERATE A RADIO STATION was the News, of Detroit, Mich., which
operated station WWJ, Detroit (as 8MK), began operating on August 20, 1920.

NEWS PROGRAM was broadcast August 31, 1920, by Station 8MK, owned by the
Detroit, Mich., News.  The call letters were changed later to WWJ.  The
station had begun operating on August 20, 1920.

RADIO STATION LICENSED was KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pa., licensed October 27, 1920.
At that time broadcasting was not recognized as such.  When broadcasting
stations received licenses, WBZ, of the Westinghouse Electric &
Manufacturing Co., Springfield, Mass., a 1500-watt station operating on 360
meters, was awarded license No.  224 on September 15, 1921, by the Bureau of
Navigation, Department of Commerce.

MUNICIPAL RADIO STATION was WRR, Dallas, Tex. (50 watts), established in
1920 to broadcast fire alarms.  So that owners of radio receivers could
check to determine whether they were tuned to the station, phonograph
records were played.  In 1925 the station began selling time to sponsors.

COLLEGE RADIO STATION was WRUC, Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., which
went on the air October 14, 1920.  It instituted a series of weekly programs
on October 15, 1920, consisting of vocal and instrumental phonograph
records.  The programs were broadcast from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a
three-minute interval.  They were initially heard within a 50-mile radius;
this increased under favorable weather conditions.  A 5 50-watt U-2
transmitter was used.  Frederick L.  Ganter was President of the Radio Club
of Union College; Wendell W.  Key, the chief engineer, and Francis J.
Candle, the chief operator.  The station was owned by the trustees of the
college.

EDUCATIONAL RADIO STATION LICENSED was WOI, Iowa State College of
Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, which received the call letters 9Y1 (375
meters frequency, using 100 watts) on November 21, 1921.  On April 28, 1922,
the station was granted a license to broadcast on 360 meters (834 kc.) using
1000 watts.

PRIZE FIGHT BROADCAST was the Jack Dempsey-Billy Miske fight in Benton
Harbor, Mich., broadcast September 6, 1920, by WWJ, Detroit, Mich.  Miske
was knocked out in the third round of the scheduled ten-round fight.

PRIZE FIGHT BROADCAST FROM THE RINGSIDE was presented December 22, 1920,
from Madison Square Garden, New York City.  Joe Lynch of New York City
defended his bantamweight title against Peter Herman of New Orleans in a
15-round fight.

FOOTBALL GAME (COLLEGIATE) BROADCAST was presented November 25, 1920, by
WTAW of College Station, Tex.  The game was played on Thanksgiving Day
between Texas University and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of
Texas at College Station.  At that time the station was operating under an
experimental license and had the call letters 5XB.  A spark transmitter was
used and the transmission was in code.  This was the first play-by-play
broadcast of a football game.

RELIGIOUS SERVICE BROADCAST was made January 2, 1921, when the Calvary
Episcopal Church at Pittsburgh, Pa., broadcast its services through KDKA.
The preacher was the Rev. Edwin Jan Van Etten.

BASEBALL GAME BROADCAST WITH A PLAY-BY-PLAY DESCRIPTION was aired August 5,
1921, by KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pa., the field being connected by wire to the
broadcasting station.  The National League Pittsburgh Corsairs defeated
Philadelphia, 8-5, at Pittsburgh, for their third straight victory.

ADVERTISING OR COMMERCIAL RADIO BROADCAST was sponsored by the Queensboro
Realty Corporation, Jackson Heights, New York City, on August 28, 1922, over
station WEAF, the experimental station of the American Telephone & Telegraph
Co., New York City.  The commercial rate was $100 for 10 minutes.  H. M.
Blackwell spoke for 10 minutes about Hawthorne Court, a dwelling in Jackson
Heights.

NETWORK SPONSORED BROADCAST was "The Eveready Hour," broadcast February 12,
1924, from station WEAF, New York City, to WCAP, Washington, D. C., WJAR,
Providence, R. I., under the sponsorship of the National Carbon Company.

NEWS PROGRAM (DAILY) was broadcast September 1, 1922, by WBAY, American
Telegraph & Telephone Co., New York City, between 4:30 p.m.  and 5:30 p.m.
It was known as "The Radio Digest," and was edited by George F. Thompson.
Questions and answers concerning radio were also broadcast.

CHAIN BROADCAST was accomplished October 7, 1922, when WJZ and WGY
transmitted a World Series game from the field.  Ordinary telegraph lines
from Newark, N. J., and Schenectady, N. Y., were connected with the Polo
Grounds, New York City, where a single microphone connected to these lines
completed the requirements.  It was not possible to transmit highest and
lowest frequencies.  Graham McNamee was the announcer.  On January 4, 1923,
WEAF of New York City and WNAC of Boston, Mass., had repeater points, and
amplifiers were provided for faithful reproduction and transmission of both
music and speech.

ELECTION CAMPAIGN USING RADIO was undertaken by Senator Harry Stewart New,
Republican, of Indiana, who waged an unsuccessful campaign for reelection in
1922.  He used radio the last five days of the campaign, from October 27 to
November 2, 1922, and hired several halls in which loud speakers were
placed.  He was defeated November 7, 1922, by Samuel Moffett Ralston, the
Democratic candidate.

PRESIDENT TO BROADCAST BY RADIO was Warren Gamaliel Harding, 29th president
(1921-1923).  The speech at the dedication of the Francis Scott Key
Memorial, at Ft. McHenry, Baltimore, Md., on June 14, 1922, was broadcast by
WEAR (now WFBR), Baltimore, Md.  His voice was carried over telephone lines
to the studio and broadcast from there.  His World Court speech on June 21,
1923, at St. Louis, Mo., was transmitted over KSD, St. Louis, and WEAF, New
York City.  On November 5, 1921, a message from President Harding had been
broadcast from Washington, D. C., to 28 countries.  It was sent in code over
the 25,000-volt RCA station at Rocky Point (near Port Jefferson), L.  I., N.
Y.

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE TO BE BROADCAST was heard on December 6, 1923, when
President Calvin Coolidge delivered his message to a joint session of
Congress held in the House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., was
broadcast by KSD, St. Louis, Mo.; WCAP, Washington, D. C.; WDAF, Kansas
City, Mo.; WEAF, New York City; WFAA, Dallas, Tex.; and WJAR, Providence, R.
I.  His voice was received over telephone wires.  On March 4, 1925, he
broadcast his inaugural address.

PRESIDENT TO BROADCAST FROM THE WHITE HOUSE was Calvin Coolidge, whose
address on George Washington's Birthday, transmitted from his study in the
White House, Washington, D. C., on February 22, 1924, was heard on 42
stations from coast to coast.

RADIO STATION OPERATING A 50-KILOWATT TRANSMITTER was 2XAG, Schenectady, N.
Y., using the 379.5 meter wave band, the same length as WGY, Schenectady, N.
Y.  The station was tested July 25, 1925, and placed in operation July 29,
1925.

RADIO STATION OPERATING A 100-KILOWATT TRANSMITTER was 2XAG, Schenectady, N.
Y., which was granted a 30-day permit to operate between the hours of 1 and
2 a.m.  It went on the air August 4, 1927.  Harry Hadenwater was in charge
of broadcasting.

RADIO STATION WITH 500,000-WATT POWER was KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pa.  Authorized
to use call letters W8XAR from June 12, 1936, to May 1, 1938, to test
high-power equipment (50 kw to 500 kw), from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. on an
experimental basis.

INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING LICENSE issued by the Federal Communications
Commission was granted October 15, 1927, to the Experimenter Publishing Co.,
New York City.  The frequency was 9,700 kilocycles and the power 500 watts.
The station was taken over in 1929 and subsequently moved to Boston, Mass.,
where it was operated as W1XAL by the World Wide Broadcasting Corporation.

TELEVISION LICENSE was issued February 25, 1928, by the Federal Radio
Commission to the (Charles Francis) Jenkins Laboratories for the operation
of a television broadcast station at 1519 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.,
Washington, D. C. using the call letters W3XK.  In 1929 the station was
authorized to move its transmitter to a location between Silver Spring and
Wheaton Md.  The station ceased to operate on October 31, 19xx.

FREQUENCY MODULATION (FM) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT was granted August 18, 1937,
to W1XOJ, the Yankee Network, Inc., Paxton, Mass.  It went on the air with
scheduled programs in May 1939 and subsequently operated with the highest
output power (50 kilowatts) granted previous to World War II.  Call letters
wee changed to W43B, and later to WGTR.  The programs were fed from the
studios in Boston, Mass., by FM circuit.

MUNICIPAL SCHOOL-OWNED ULTRA-HIGH-FREQUENCY RADIO STATION to receive a
license from the Federal Communications Commission was station WBOE,
Cleveland, Ohio, granted license No. 1 November 21, 1938, to operate (500
watts, 41,500 kilocycles).  Regular classroom lessons and music were
broadcast Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The station
became an FM station in February 1941.

FREQUENCY MODULATION TRANSMITTER TO RECEIVE A COMMERCIAL LICENSE was W47NV,
Nashville, Tenn., which operated on a frequency of 44,700 kilocycles with a
power of 20,000 watts, licensed to cover a 16,000-square-mile radius.  It
began operations March 1, 1941, with full commercial status and presented
the commercial of Standard Candy Company, Nashville, Tenn.

FACSIMILE BROADCAST IN ULTRA-HIGH FREQUENCIES was made December 19, 1933, by
station W9XAF, Milwaukee, Wis., on frequencies of 42,000-56,000 kilocycles
and 60,000-86,000 kilocycles.

RADIO FACSIMILE BROADCASTING ON THE REGULAR BROADCAST BAND was instituted
February 4, 1938, by WHO (Central Broadcasting Co.), Des Moines, Iowa.  The
facsimile was on 1,000 kilocycles from 12:00 midnight to 12:36 a.m.

RADIO ADVERTISING CONTRACT FOR FREQUENCY MODULATION BROADCASTS was signed
December 8, 1940, by the Longines Watch Company and provided for the
broadcasting of Longines time signals by W2XOR, New York, for 26 weeks
beginning January 1, 1941.  On April 1, 1941, the experimental license was
replaced with commercial license W71NY, and the station was operating from
8:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. on a frequency of 47,100 kilocycles.

COMMERCIAL TELEVISION LICENSES were granted to 10 stations, May 2, 1941, by
the Federal Communications Commission, operations to begin on July 1, 1941.
The first license, No. 1, was issued to W2XBS, NBC, which telecast from the
Empire State Building using Channel 1.  Four sponsors used the services:
Lever Brothers., for Spry; Proctor and Gamble, for Ivory Soap; the Sun Oil
Company; and the Bulova Watch Company.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT for a commercial television station was granted June 17,
1941, to WNBT of the National Broadcasting Company, New York City, to
operate on 50,000-56,000 kilocycles.  A license to cover this construction
permit was also granted June 17, 1941, effective July 1, 1941.

ALL-NEWS RADIO STATION was WINS, New York City, which broadcast news
around-the-clock on April 19, 1965, on 1010 AM.  Previously, it had
broadcast rock 'n' roll.