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KF5JRV > TODAY 12.12.24 09:52l 37 Lines 2740 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Dec 12
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Sent: 241212/0832Z 2360@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.23
Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocea
n, disproving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit transmission to 200 miles or less. The messag
esimply the Morse-code signal for the letter “s”traveled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, to N
ewfoundland, Canada.
Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1874 to an Italian father and an Irish mother, Marconi studied physics and became interested in the
transmission of radio waves after learning of the experiments of the German physicist Heinrich Hertz. He began his own experime
nts in Bologna beginning in 1894 and soon succeeded in sending a radio signal over a distance of 1.5 miles. Receiving little en
couragement for his experiments in Italy, he went to England in 1896. He formed a wireless telegraph company and soon was sendi
ng transmissions from distances farther than 10 miles. In 1899, he succeeded in sending a transmission across the English Chann
el. That year, he also equipped two U.S. ships to report to New York newspapers on the progress of the Americas Cup yacht ra
ce. That successful endeavor aroused widespread interest in Marconi and his wireless company.
circa 1910: Italian physicist and inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874 - 1937), who developed wireless communication. (Photo by Sto
ck Montage/Stock Montage/Getty Images)
Marconis greatest achievement came on December 12, 1901, when he received a message sent from England at St. Johns, Newfo
undland. The transatlantic transmission won him worldwide fame. Ironically, detractors of the project were correct when they de
clared that radio waves would not follow the curvature of the earth, as Marconi believed. In fact, Marconis transatlantic ra
dio signal had been headed into space when it was reflected off the ionosphere and bounced back down toward Canada. Much remain
ed to be learned about the laws of the radio wave and the role of the atmosphere in radio transmissions, and Marconi would cont
inue to play a leading role in radio discoveries and innovations during the next three decades.
In 1909, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics with the German radio innovator Ferdinand Braun. After successfully
sending radio transmissions from points as far away as England and Australia, Marconi turned his energy to experimenting with s
horter, more powerful radio waves. He died in 1937, and on the day of his funeral all British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) st
ations were silent for two minutes in tribute to his contributions to the development of radio.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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