Radio's in the Roaring Twenties
By: Justin shoufer
Frank Conrad
On May 4, 1874, Frank Conrad was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Conrad is widely known as the father of radio broadcasting and was responsible for the founding of the first broadcast station in the world, KDKA. Conrad was a son to Herbert M. Conrad, a railroad mechanic, and Sadie Conrad. His formal education ended when he left the seventh grade at the Starrett Grammar School. At the age of 16, Conrad filled his desire to work with tools as a bench-hand in the Westinghouse plant on Garrison Alley in Pittsburgh. By working as a bench-hand for Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, he began working toward his future career as an engineer and inventor.
On the night of November 2, 1920, Conrad and his Westinghouse associates announced that Warren G. Harding had defeated James Cox to become the next President. The message was heard as far north as New Hampshire and as far south as Louisiana. The federal government granted the call letters KDKA to the Pittsburgh station and a new industry was born. For nearly a year, KDKA monopolized the airwaves. But competition came fast and furious; by the end of 1922, there were over 500 such stations across the United States. The federal government exercised no regulation over the nascent enterprise, and the result was complete chaos. Stations fought over call letters and frequencies, each trying to out broadcast the closest competitor. Finally in 1927, Congress created the Federal Radio Commission. to restore order.
Accomplishments
Reflection of the Era
This reflects the 1920’s because is shows what great accomplishment a person had at the time. Also it shows that the 1920’s was a time for development and a new inventions that changed history. The 1920s was a decade of new inventions. This was the time directly after World War I, and when soldiers were eager to return to a more prosperous life. To help them enjoy their new lives new technologies such as the radio, silent movies and Henry Ford's automobile industry were invented.
Significance
The Radio's Effect
Sources
http://pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Conrad__Frank.html
http://www.ushistory.org/us/46g.asp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMujQke4mMo
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4282132
http://www.clevelandhs.org/ourpages/webdesign4/dane/science.html
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/cellular-phones http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/
http://www.american-historama.org/1913-1928-ww1-prohibition-era/radio-1920s.htm