ABSTRACT
The technology of radio broadcasting in the late 19th century could transmit only click-like sounds. To appreciate why this was still important, consider it in relation to the development of the telegraph. After Samuel Morse developed the telegraph in 1842, scientists began to look to send messages over the air using electric waves or frequencies. In 1895, Italian Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in sending messages wirelessly over long distances using the code of dots and dashes that Morse had developed. Because the Italian government showed no interest in Marconi’s fi nd, he took it to England, where people quickly saw its value to the far-fl ung British Empire. The Marconi Company was formed to equip the commercial and military ships of England, the United States, and other countries with wireless telegraphy for communicating with one another and with shore points around the world.
