An Early History of Radio Trivia Quiz

Answer: Heinrich Hertz

German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857-1894) proved in 1887 that energy is transmitted through a vacuum by electromagnetic waves. (In other words, radio waves exist and move at the speed of light.) In his honor, the unit of frequency is now called the hertz, abbreviated Hz. One Hz is one cycle per second. Hertz died young, at 36, before fully comprehending the practical applications of his experiments.

Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) was a good guess. In 1895, Marconi demonstrated the controlled transmission and reception of long-range or groundwave radio signals, which is why he is often called the inventor of radio or at least long-distance radio. He founded a telegraph and signal company in 1897 in Britain that for a long time pioneered wireless long-distance communication.

Samuel Morse invented a signal code adopted internationally for use in telegraphy.

Answer: mobile telegraphy

Other names were "Hertzian waves" and "spark telegraphy" after Heinrich Hertz and his spark transmitter, "space telegraphy", "radio-telegraphy", "etheric telegraphy", and "electric waves". In fact, there was endless discussion about what exactly to call electromagnetic radiation and/or communication through this medium. A. Frederick Collins wrote an article in the 'Western Electrician' (24 August 1901) entitled "Spark, Space, Wireless, Etheric, Hertzian Wave or Cableless Telegraphy--Which?".

He speculated that everything would be wireless someday, so we would simply use the terms "telephony" and "telegraphy" without qualification. I leave it to the reader to assess the correctness of his prediction. Sometime in the teens, however, at least in the USA, "radio" was more or less settled upon. People continued to use "a wireless set" to mean "a radio", however, well into the 1920s.

Answer: both of these

The invention of the telegraph that printed numbers and letters on ticker tape was a crucial invention for Wall Street and other financial markets, and it also allowed for widespread distribution of news events and sports scores to paying customers.

Entertainment, such as opera, was distributed through telephone wires, again to paying customers in a sort of pay-per-event or a subscription scheme. However, the signals were too weak at the time for the medium to take off in the USA, but there were systems like the Paris Theatrophone and the London Electrophone that actually held their own into the 1920s. The USA did briefly have a Telephone Herald service that offered news by telephone, based in New Jersey and in Oregon. There were also various long-distance (trunkline) telephone concerts in the 1890s.

Answer: vacuum-tube transmitters

Vacuum-tube transmitters provided amplification necessary to use audio (voice/sound) rather than merely signaling the dots and dashes for Morse code. These transmitters along with new compact radio receivers increased speculation about personal telephones and concomitant worries about always being connected.

The 'London Spectator' predicted in 1901 that "Some day men and women will carry wireless telephones as today we carry a card case or camera." The 'New York Times' in 1906 wondered, "How will it be when we're told, not that somebody's 'on the wire', but that somebody's 'on the air', and we are exposed to answer calls from any part of the atmosphere?" Again, I leave it to the reader to assess these prognostications!

Answer: CQD

Most of the Marconi companies (mostly British) had adopted CQD by 1904 as the distress signal. Two years later the Berlin Radio-Telegraphic Convention adopted SOS, the string ...---..., as the international standard, but the Marconi companies were slow to follow suit. Adding to the confusion is that American Morse code used --- for "5" whilst International Morse code used --- for the letter "O". So for a time Americans called it "S5S".

The use of radio greatly mitigated emergencies. This was not the case unfortunately for the RMS Titanic, as the nearest ship did not have a radio. Additionally, communications were unregulated, so it was difficult for stations on the North American coast to get accurate information, due to interference, as the Carpathian approached with the survivors.

Answer: False

Nothing could be further from the truth. Adoption was spotty and financial returns elusive. Many fly-by-night start-up companies developed, especially in the USA. 'Success Magazine' in 1907 published an article called "Fools and Their Money/The Wireless Telegraph Bubble".

Indeed, the press exposed inflated radio stock prices and fraud and all sorts of shady financing. Between 1910 and 1915, the federal government arrested and convicted the officers of several companies, including United Wireless and Continental Wireless, for stock fraud and patent infringement.

Answer: The Federal Government took control.

Congress gave the Federal Government a monopoly. All commercial and amateur radio use and development ceased. In fact, it was illegal for individuals to possess or operate a radio transmitter or receiver. Amateur stations were closed and commercial ones nationalized.

Many technical advances developed during this period, such as direct communication with airplanes. Opportunities in the industry for African-Americans increased as the Army's demands for wireless operators grew, and there were training camps specifically for "coloreds". The U.S. government held its monopoly on radio for the duration of war.

Linwood S. Howeth documents in 'History of Communications-Electronics in the United States Navy' (1963) how the Navy plotted to maintain a government monopoly on radio after World War I. The Navy quietly bought the Federal Telegraph Company and most of the Marconi stations in the USA. Congress intervened and forced the Navy to return the stations.

Answer: RCA

Because Marconi Wireless was foreign-owned, the Federal Government pressured it to sell its American holdings to General Electric. From these transactions emerged the Radio Corporation of America, or RCA.

Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company purchased the struggling International Radio Telegraph Company and began broadcasting from its first station, KDK, then WJZ in New Jersey. It eventually merged its radio holdings into RCA, which became jointly owned by GE and Westinghouse.

Answer: AT&T

Surprise! AT&T had long been experimenting with public address systems, long-distance (trunk) lines, and vacuum-tube radio transmitters. Thus they were quickly able to use telephone lines, amplified with vacuum tubes, to interconnect radio stations in the early 1920s and provide simulcasting.

RCA, along with Westinghouse and GE, tried to form their own network by boosting their stations' transmitter outputs, by using leased telegraph lines, and by sending shortwave transmissions (which can travel farther than longwave). But they just could not compete with a telecommunications giant like AT&T. In 1926, however, RCA bought out AT&T's network, which then became the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC.

Answer: commercials

During the boom, not only were broadcasts commercial-free, but the performers performed without fee because of their excitement over the new invention. Interestingly, in an October 1921 memo from engineers that outlined AT&T's new network, it was assumed that the new network would be supported by advertising, a revolutionary idea that would remain controversial through most of the 1920s.
During this decade the notion of government sponsorship radio was initially more popular. Indeed, the Postmaster General, Will Hays, wanted to develop a Department of Communications for free, tax-supported radio, a "newspaper without paper". Throughout the 20th century the government provided weather reports and other public services over the airwaves.

Hays's dream was partially realized through the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and provided funding for what became the Public Broadcasting Service (TV) and National Public Radio.