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The first intentional transmission of a signal by means of electromagnetic waves was preformed in an experiment by David Edward Hughes. This would spark the start of more people experimenting with wireless communication.
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The Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, built the first complete, commercially successful wireless telegraphy system based on airborne Hertzian waves.
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Reginald Fessenden used a synchronous rotary-spark transmitter for the first radio program broadcast, from Ocean Bluff-Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Ships at sea heard a broadcast that included Fessenden playing O Holy Night on the violin and reading passages from the Bible. This was the first transmission of what is now known as AM radio.
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In June 1912, Marconi opened the world's first purpose-built radio factory at New Street Works in Chelmsford, England. This made it easier for more consumers to get their hands on a radio.
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The first radio news broadcast was broadcast August 31, 1920 by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan, which survives today under ownership of the CBS Network.
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In the early 1930s, single sideband and frequency modulation were invented by amateur radio operators. By the end of the decade, they were established commercial modes. Frequency modulation is also known as FM radio.
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From its start in St. Louis in 1946, AT&T the introduced Mobile Telephone Service to one hundred towns and highway corridors by 1948. Because only three radio channels were available at the time, only three customers in any given city could make mobile telephone calls at one time.
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In 1954, the Regency company introduced the first pocket transistor radio. In 1955, Sony introduced their own transistorized radio, which was far superior. It was small enough to fit in a vest pocket, powered by a small battery.
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By 1963, color television was being broadcast commercially (though not all broadcasts or programs were in color), and the first (radio) communication satellite, Telstar, was launched.
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In the 1970s, LORAN (Long range navigation), became the premier radio navigation system. This lead to the advancement of satellite navigation.
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The U.S. Navy experimented with satellite navigation, culminating in the launch of the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation in 1987.
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In 1994, the U.S. Army and DARPA launched an aggressive, successful project to construct a software-defined radio that can be programmed to be virtually any radio by changing its software program.
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Starting in October 1998, US congress passed the DMCA. Making traditional radio broadcasters pay only publishing royalties and no performance royalties. This continued until June 26, 2007. On that day, many US Internet broadcasters participated in a "Day of Silence" where they all shut off their audio streams or streamed ambient sound.
