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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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."
- ^ 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.
- ^ "KDKA Firsts". 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ It Started Hear (1970) page 22.
- ^ "On-air to online: Dunedin researchers celebrate century since first radio broadcast by showcasing latest technology". 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Alterations and Corrections: Miscellaneous: Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
- ^ Balle, Francis (2020). Les médias: «Que sais-je?». Vol. 3694. Presses universitaires de France. p. PT17. ISBN 9782715403123.
- ^ 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.