Today In Radio History

February 22nd

George Washington’s Birthday (LINK)

On this day in 1630, Popcorn is introduced to the Pilgrims by an Indian named Quadequina, who delivered it to them in deerskin bags as his contribution to the first Thanksgiving dinner.

On this day in 1784, The first U.S. ship to trade with China, "Empress of China," sails from New York.

On this day in 1857, Physicist Heinrich Hertz became the first person to broadcast & receive radio waves. His main work was on electromagnetic waves (1887). Hertz generated electric waves by means of the oscillatory discharge of a condenser through a loop provided with a spark gap, and then detecting them with a similar type of circuit. Hertz's condenser was a pair of metal rods, placed end to end with a small gap for a spark between them.

On this day in 1879, Frank Winfield Woolworth opens the Great 5 Cents Store in Utica, New York.

On this day in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House. The address is carried on five stations, with an estimated five million listeners.  

On this day in 1927, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the Radio Acto of 1927, which created the Federal Radio Commission.

On this day in 1928, BASIC co-inventor Thomas Kurtz is born. With John Kemeny, Kurtz developed the easy-to-learn programming language for his students at Dartmouth College in the early 1960s.

On this day in 1960, Radio station CKNW 980 increased its power to 10,000 watts day/5,000 watts night.  

On this day in 1965, U.S.S.R. launches Kosmos 57 into earth orbit.

On this day in 1968, Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson announced creation of Radio-Québec, a provincially owned radio and television network.  

On this day in 1989, The first Spanish commercial aired on network TV (Pepsi-Cola-CBS Grammy Award).

On this day in 2002, Parksville BC's CKCI AM1350 signed off.  

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