144 years ago, April 25, 1874, Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi, the man who invented radio, was born in Bologna, Italy. In 1901, he sent the first radio transmission some 2,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

On his death in 1937, all British radio stations went silent for 2 minutes.

In the United States, radio helped to unify a myriad of subcultures into one cohesive nation during the depression and wars.

In 1916, Frank Conrad started broadcasting from his garage in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1920, it became KDKA, the first commercial radio station in the US.

On January 2, 1930, KDFN (now KTWO), Casper, became Wyoming’s first radio station, now owned by Townsquare Media. They also own the station that employs me, Steve Cooper. I thank Marconi for all his hard work, just to give me a job and to bring my inane content and musings to the masses.

Happy birthday, Guglielmo Marconi

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