(WWTI) – FM or AM just sit back and enjoy the radio and all it has to offer, it’s National Radio Day.

The invention of the radio is typically attributed to Gugliemo Marconi however Nikola Tesla was reportedly the first to demonstrate a radio device in 1893. Radio waves on the other hand were discovered by Heinrich Rudolph Hertz in the 1880’s, which helped to prove James Clerk Maxwell’s 1873 theory of electromagnetism.

In 1910 the first public radio broadcast was transmitted by Lee de Forest and featured some opera stars. Since then, radio has been broadcasting music, news and even stories read aloud. On Halloween in 1938 director Orson Welles read excerpts from H.G Wells’ “War of the Worlds,” over the radio which lead listeners to think it was the real news and that the planet was being attacked by aliens.

“I think radio plays are my favourite medium, as they make the listener work and create and contribute in a way that TV and film can never do, and they have an immediacy that written prose often lacks.”

Neil Gaiman

Music was revolutionized by radio giving people access to music in their homes from a variety of artists. The radio is still widely loved and appreciated today, who doesn’t turn on the radio in the car and sing like no one can hear you or listen to the ball game on the way home from work?

“The truth of it is that every singer out there with songs on the radio is raising the next generation. So make your words count.”

Taylor Swift

Happy National Radio Day!