Marconi’s countrymen didn’t seem to be interested in his amazing invention. When he tried to sell it to the Italian government, they turned him down. So he left his home town and traveled to England. Customs officials at the English border were suspicious of the black box Marconi was carrying. They nearly took it apart before deciding it was safe to bring into the country.
Marconi’s black box impressed the head of the British Navy, and in a short time the inventor was operating his own wireless telegraph company. At first, Marconi’s black box was used for ship-to-shore communications, and by 1901 he was able to send a message 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. The message consisted of the single letter "S".
Meanwhile, people on both sides of the Atlantic were already thinking of the black box as a means of entertainment. On Christmas Eve in 1906, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden of Brant Rock, Massachusetts, became the first radio "disc jockey." His first program had a little something for everyone: Fessenden played the violin, delivered a speech, read from the Bible, and even played a record. The broadcast carried for only five miles, but that didn’t make much difference, for no homes had radios to pick up the signals. The only listeners were nearby ships equipped with Marconi’s invention. Fessenden’s second broadcast on New Year’s Eve was more successful. Due to good weather conditions, the program was heard as far away as the West Indies.
A few years later, another enterprising 21- year-old appeared on the scene. His name was David Sarnoff. Working as a telegraph operator, Sarnoff was the first person to pick up the distress signals from the sinking ship Titanic, in 1912. Sarnoff stayed at his post for three days without a break and relayed the Titanic’s survivor list to the world. It was a dramatic event and gave radio a big boost in publicity.
It also gave Sarnoff a brilliant idea. He suggested to Marconi that a "radio music box" be developed, one which could be placed in the home, like the already-popular phonograph, and be used for entertainment purposes.
Three years later, the first radio corporation of America – RCA – was formed. And in 1920, KDKA in Pittsburgh, the first radio station in the world, hit the air waves.
A. Marconi and his brother testing the new invention
B. English customs officials taking Marconi’s radio apart
C. Reginald Fessenden becoming the first radio "disc jockey"
D. the broadcast of the Titanic’s survivor list
A. Guglielmo Marconi.
B. Alfonso Marconi.
C. Reginald Fessenden.
D. David Sarnoff.
A. Italy.
B. the West Indies.
C. the United States.
D. England.
A. drama.
B. fiction.
C. nonfiction.
D. poetry.