1921 in radio

1921 in radio details the internationally significant events in radio broadcasting for the year 1921.

Events

• 3 January – Station 9XM (now WHA), at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, transmits the first spoken weather forecast. The station had been broadcasting weather bulletins in Morse code since 1916. ^[1]
• 4 March – Text of the speech, given at the U.S. Presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. by Warren G. Harding, is read over KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ^[2]
• 5 August – First broadcast of a Major League baseball game is aired by KDKA, as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 8–5 at Forbes Field. ^[3]
• 19 September – First commercially licensed radio broadcasting station in the United States, WBZ, is launched by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is the first broadcasting station to receive a license that explicitly specified operation on the 360 meter (833 kHz) wavelength formally assigned to the broadcasting service by regulations which became effective 1 December 1921.
• 20 September – KDKA and the Pittsburgh Post create the first "news room" and "news department". ^[4]
• 25 September – The wireless telegraph station in Sofia makes the first public radio broadcast in Bulgaria: the retransmission of a concert from the German station at Nauen.
• 8 October – First broadcast of American football is on the air via KDKA as the University of Pittsburgh defeats West Virginia University at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. ^[5]
• 17 November – First radio broadcast in New Zealand is made by University of Otago physics professor Robert Jack. ^[6]
• 26 November – First public radio broadcast in France, from the Compagnie générale de la télégraphie sans fil (CSF) Sainte-Assise transmitter. ^[7]
• 27 November – U.S. bandleader Vincent Lopez and his group begin making a series of weekly 90-minute music broadcasts on Westinghouse-owned station WJZ in Newark, New Jersey (later WABC New York).^{[ citation needed ]}
• 1 December – Effective date, in the U.S., for the first formal establishment of a broadcasting station service. (Limited Commercial license, for operation on 360 (833 kHz) and/or 485 (419) meters.) ^[8]
• 24 December – First public radio broadcast from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. ^[9]

Births

• 25 February – Patricia Ryan, English-born American child actress, continues performing on radio until her death (d. 1949) ^[10]
• 5 March – Charlez ar Gall, Breton-language broadcaster (d. 2010)
• 21 March – Antony Hopkins, British composer, pianist, conductor and music broadcaster (d. 2014)
• 1 April – Steve Race, English pianist-composer and radio presenter (d. 2009)
• 23 May – Humphrey Lyttelton, English jazz trumpeter and radio presenter (d. 2008)
• 19 July – Harold Camping, American religious broadcaster (d. 2013)
• 21 September – Jimmy Young, English singer and broadcaster (d. 2016)
• 19 October – Bern Bennett, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
• 24 December – Jimmy Clitheroe, English comic entertainer (d. 1973)

References

1. Calvert, E. B. (January 1923). "History of Radio in Relation to the Work of the Weather Bureau". Monthly Weather Review. 51 (1): 9. doi: 10.1175/1520-0493(1923)51<1:HORIRT>2.0.CO;2 .
2. It Started Hear (1970) page 16. "A copy of the Harding text was obtained in advance and read on the air while the new President was speaking in Washington."
3. Walker and Hughes, James R. and Pat (1 May 2015). Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio . University of Nebraska Press. p. 21.
4. "KDKA Firsts". 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
5. It Started Hear (1970) page 22.
6. "On-air to online: Dunedin researchers celebrate century since first radio broadcast by showcasing latest technology". 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
7. "Seine-Port et l'émetteur de Saint-Assise". archives.seine-et-marne.fr. Archived from the original on 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
8. "Alterations and Corrections: Miscellaneous: Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
9. Balle, Francis (2020). Les médias: «Que sais-je?». Vol. 3694. Presses universitaires de France. p. PT17. ISBN   9782715403123.
10. DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-2834-2. p. 235.

See also

• List of oldest radio stations
• List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States