What, Exactly, Was First About KDKA?

 

Two of our experts take on the question as we approach the centennial

BY PAUL MCLANE 
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

What, exactly, was "first" about KDKA's broadcast on Nov. 2, 1920?

As history articles in Radio World demonstrate, there really was no single "first day" of "radio." Various dates and organizations could lay claim to some or all of the honor depending on how one defines it. 

Radio history fans are well aware of this, but many others are not.

In celebrating the upcoming KDKA anniversary, most people are likely to say something like "Radio started in November 1920." I wasn't happy with this simplification, so I turned to two of RW's favorite radio history writers, John Schneider and James O'Neal.





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