Marconi wasn't the only one to experiment with wireless communication. "Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray, Kentucky, is rumored to have transmitted voice via radio as early as 1892."4 He didn't want to market his invention because he wanted to improve upon it. "Also, he feared that someone would steal his ideas."5 Other Americans involved in the improvement of were Lee de Forest and Reginald Fessenden. De Forest came up with numerous radios patents and Fessenden sent the first voice transmission over the radio.
I really think that Stubblefield was extremely insane for not marketing the radio. My perception of him is that he was one of those stereotypical, backwoods hick from Kentucky, which I believe to be partially true. I can understand where he's coming from by wanting to perfect his inventions, but I think that he should have broaden his horizons a little bit more. If he would have marketed his ideas, then advances in the technology during the time might have been faster or better.
A big turning point for the radio was when in 1912, a distress came from the Titanic. Wireless stations on the East coast of the United States received the signal. One of the recipients was David Sarnoff. "Sarnoff heard a signal, "S.S. Titanic ran into iceberg. Sinking Fast."6 From then on, many people had new views of the radio and its usefulness. Congress even passed a legislation saying that there had to be a radio and radio operators on every ship. Once again the radio has been proven as a useful piece of technology, but it took a tragic event for people to realize it. .
The first radio station to start broadcasting was KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "On election day, November 2, 1920, at 8 o"clock P.M. EST, a newly established radio station in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, owned by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, began reporting election returns in the race between Warren G.
