Radios modulate electromagnetic waves with frequencies, transmitting signals. FM, or “frequency modulation,” radio has been around since the early 1930’s. James Clerk Maxwell was responsible for explaining electromagnetism, but Edwin Howard Armstrong was the first person credited with patenting the FM system. At that time, most every station was still AM, or “amplitude modulation.” The first reported program was on July 18th, 1939. That same program was around until the 1950’s.

There were many arguments as far as who invented the radio because different people transmitted signals by radio, developed long distance signals, and in the end it came down to who transmitted it the furthest. This is where Guglielmo Marconi came in. Marconi studied the works of others who had experimented with transmitting signals until he was able to receive transmissions of over 2,000 miles. The patent was then given to Marconi. Even though he received a Nobel Prize shortly after for his accomplishment, the patent was eventually taken away from Marconi and given to Nikola Tesla, from whom Marconi got his information.

Improvements were made to the FM transmissions until Sony was able to release a transistorized radio. It was small, but efficient. This eventually led to the production of more and more radios. In the late 1990’s, digital transmissions began. The more radios there were, the more uses people would find for them.

Radios were used for communications, as well as broadcasting. The military used radio communications a great deal along with using the radio to locate aircraft and such by radar. Broadcasts were started not only for news and music, but you could listen to different types of entertainment, such as comedies or variety shows. With so many different uses, the radio quickly grew to be very popular.