-
Heinrich Hertz proved that electricity can be transmitted in electromagnetic waves. He conducted experiments in sending and receiving these waves during the late 1880s.
-
Radios (what we’d call wireless telegraphs today) began to
appear on ships at sea. This reduced the isolation of the ships thus improving both reliability and safety -
Nikola Tesla wirelessly transmitted electromagnetic energy.
He made the first public demonstration of radio in St.
Louis in 1893. -
Guglielmo Marconi filed for patent protection of his radio apparatus. He established the Wireless Telegraph and Signal
Company in 1897. -
The R.F. Matthews was the first ship to request emergency
assistance using a wireless apparatus (Marconi’s system) -
First transAtlantic signal sent by Marconi from Ireland to
Canada. -
Lee DeForest produces the “Audion,” a triode vacuum tube that allowed for amplification of radio signals.
-
First radio transmission from an airplane.
-
Federal regulation of American airwaves begins. Amateurs had to be licensed; ships had to have a radio and trained operators.
-
All U.S. radio stations not needed by the government
are closed as WWI begins. -
Edwin Armstrong patented the Super Heterodyne Receiver based on work he did as an officer in the Army Signal Corp.
-
The Federal Radio Commission established to bring
order to chaotic airwaves. -
Cellular radio telephony, with call handoff and frequency reuse, was conceived at Bell Laboratories
-
The FCC reallocated TV channels 70-83 for mobile
radio services. -
The FCC permitted spread spectrum, the technology of choice for many of today’s digital, commercial cellular and PCS services.
-
Amateur (today known as “ham”) radio introduced to the U.S. via a Scientific American article on “How to Construct an
Efficient Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus at Small Cost.” -
The FCC reallocated spectrum at 2 GHz for emerging digital mobile services.
-
The first cellular system using digital CDMA technology was commercially launched by QUALCOMM.
