Pioneers Who Shaped the Sounds of Radio

Some people say radio was invented by Guglielmo Marconi of Italy. Marconi sent the first radio communication signals through the air in eighteen ninety-five. In fact, no one person can be called the inventor of radio. Many people, including several Americans, helped to develop radio. You may not know their names. However, their work affected many people.
Over the years, radio has become one of the most important forms of communication. It can be used for two-way communication, such as between a ship and land. Scientists even use radio to communicate into space. And radio broadcasts let people send words, music and information to any part of the world.
The first experimental radio broadcasts in the United States were made in the early nineteen hundreds. One of the first broadcasts came from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in nineteen ten. It included music by the great singer Enrico Caruso. An American inventor, Lee De Forest, produced that broadcast.
Only a few people could hear the broadcast. Some were people in the New York area who had built radio receivers. Some ships at sea and military radio stations received the broadcast. Many newspapers of the day reported on the event. The name of Lee De Forest became part of broadcasting history.
De Forest developed some of the technology used in early radio. During his lifetime, he invented hundreds of devices that were used in telephones, shortwave radio broadcasts, and similar technology. His most famous invention was the vacuum tube, or electron tube. In nineteen-oh-six, the electron tube was considered the single most important development in electronics. The device made it possible to strengthen radio signals and to send them over long distances. It was a major reason for the fast growth of the electronics and communications industries in the early part of the twentieth century.
Edwin Armstrong was another American inventor who was important in the development of electronics and radio communication. Armstrong developed technology that helped to improve radio reception. He discovered ways to limit unwanted radio signals. Edwin Armstrong also was a leader in using radio to reproduce sounds clearly. This process became known as frequency modulation, or FM radio. FM radio provided better sound reproduction and less noise or interference than traditional AM radio. Armstrong also developed radio receivers that became widely used.

Answer

1. Who invented radio?

2. Where is radio used?

3. When were the first radio broadcasts made in the USA? Who produced it?

4. What was the contribution of De Forest to development of technology?

5. What was the most important development in electronics?

6. What advantages of vacuum tubes were used in radio?

7. What technology was developed by Edwin Armstrong?