Radio Timeline Outline

David Hughes Invents the Loose-Contact Carbon Microphone
(1878)

Hertz Proves the Existence of Electromagnetic Waves
(1887)

Electromagnetic Waves: the Basis for Radio
(1892)

Invention of Radio
(1895)

The First Transmission of Speech over Radio Waves
(December 23, 1900)

The First Transatlantic Radio Transmission?
(December 12, 1901)

The Beginning of Electronics
(November 16, 1904 – September 21, 1905)

Lee de Forest Invents the Triode
(1906)

The First Audio Radio Broadcast of Entertainment and Music
(December 24, 1906)

Invention of the Regenerative Circuit
(1914)

The First Radio News Broadcast
(August 31, 1920)

The First Commercial Radio Broadcast
(November 2, 1920)

George Owen Squier Invents Muzak
(1922 – 1936)

The BBC is Founded
(October 18 – November 14, 1922)

The Beginning of "Talk Radio"
(February 1924)

Sarnoff Creates NBC
(1926)

CBS
(September 1928)

Frequency Modulation (FM)
(1933 – 1936)

Creation of the FCC
(1934)

The First Practical Tape Recorder
(1935)

Invention of Radar
(February 12, 1935)

Mass Hysteria Induced by Electronic Media
(October 30, 1938)

First Commercial Transistor Radio
(1954)

The First Transatlantic Telephone Cable is Operational
(1955 – September 25, 1956)

"The Medium is the Message"
(1964)

The First Packet-Switched Wireless Data Network
(1970)

PBS is Founded
(October 5, 1970)

The First Widely Used Music Scheduling System
(1979)

Invention of "Buffered Media," the Basis for Webcasting
(1989)

Sirius Satellite Radio is Founded
(July 1990 – July 2002)

Wireless Internet Access
(1994)

First Internet Radio Broadcast
(May 3 – May 5, 1994)

The Rolling Stones Present the First "Cyberspace Multicast Concert"
(November 1994)

The First Traditional Radio Station to Initiate Internet Broadcasts
(November 7, 1994)

The First Internet Only Broadcast of a Live Band
(November 10, 1994)

The First Continuous Live Webcasts
(January 1998)

Pandora Radio is Founded
(January 2000)

Satellite Radio Broadcasting Begins
(September 25, 2001)

"From Gutenberg to the Internet"
(2005)

Sirus XM Satellite Radio
(July 29, 2008)