1921 in radio details the internationally significant events in

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

for the year 1921. __TOC__

Events

*2 January – Dr E. J. Van Etten of Calvary Episcopal Church makes one of the first religious broadcast on the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

station KDKA. *3 January – Station 9XM (now WHA), at the

University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, transmits the first spoken

weather forecast Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...

. The station had been broadcasting weather bulletins in

Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

since 1916. *18 February –

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

becomes the first U.S. president-elect to be heard on radio when he speaks on KDKA. *4 March – The first Presidential inauguration is broadcast from Washington, D.C., by KDKA. *10 March – From Pittsburgh's Davis Theater KDKA makes the first broadcast in history of a live opera/theater performance. *11 April – The world's first ever sports broadcast is made on KDKA by Florent Gibson of the ''

Pittsburgh Post The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Pittsburgh metropolitan area, metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspa ...

'' newspaper. The commentary is of a

fight Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

between Johnny Ray and

Johnny Dundee Johnny Dundee (November 19, 1893 – April 22, 1965) was an American featherweight and the first world junior lightweight champion boxer who fought from 1910 until 1932. He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Inte ...

Motor Square Garden Motor Square Garden, also known as East Liberty Market, is a building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located at 5900 Baum Boulevard in the East Liberty neighborhood, it today serves ...

in Pittsburgh. *2 July – From

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

defeat the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

8–5 at

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of t ...

. *20 September – KDKA and the ''Pittsburgh Post'' create the first "news room" and "news department" in broadcast history. *25 September – The wireless telegraph station in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

makes the first public radio broadcast in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

: the retransmission of a concert from the German station at

Nauen Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation. Geography Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...

. *8 October – The first broadcast of American football is on the air via KDKA as the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

defeats

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. *17 November – The first radio broadcast in New Zealand is made by

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

physics professor Robert Jack. *26 November – First public radio broadcast in France, from the

Compagnie générale de la télégraphie sans fil The Compagnie générale de la télégraphie sans fil (CSF: General Wireless Telegraphy Company) was a French company founded in 1918 during a reorganization and expansion of the Société française radio-électrique (SFR), which became a subsidia ...

(CSF)

Sainte-Assise transmitter The Sainte-Assise transmitter (french: Émetteur de Sainte-Assise) is a very low frequency (VLF) radio transmitter and military installation located on the grounds of the in the communes of Seine-Port, Boissise-la-Bertrand, and Cesson in the Se ...

. *27 November – U.S. bandleader

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

and his group begin making a series of weekly 90-minute music broadcasts on Westinghouse-owned station WJZ in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.WABC

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

). *24 December – First public radio broadcast from the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

in Paris.

Debuts

* February –

WQAM WQAM (560 AM, "AM 560 Sports") is a radio station in Miami, Florida. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a sports talk format carrying a mixture of local and CBS Sports Radio programming. Its studios are located in Audacy's Miami office on Nort ...

is launched in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

by the W.W. Luce of the Electrical Equipment Company. *26 July – Experimental station 8ACS (later WHK) is launched in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, by Warren C. Cox/Cox Mfg. Co. *19 September – The first commercially licensed radio broadcasting station in the United States, WBZ, is launched by the

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. *1 October – WJZ is launched by Westinghouse in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.KYW is launched by Westinghouse in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Births

*25 February – Patricia Ryan, English-born American child actress, continues performing on radio until her death (d. 1949)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 235. *21 March –

Antony Hopkins Antony Hopkins CBE (21 March 1921 – 6 May 2014) was a composer, pianist, and conductor, as well as a writer and radio broadcaster. He was widely known for his books of musical analysis and for his radio programmes ''Talking About Music'', br ...

, British composer, pianist, conductor and music broadcaster (d. 2014) *1 April –

Steve Race Stephen Russell "Steve" Race OBE (1 April 192122 June 2009) was a British composer, pianist and radio and television presenter. Biography Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the son of a lawyer, Race learned the piano from the age of five.Spencer L ...

, English pianist-composer and radio presenter (d. 2009) *23 May –

Humphrey Lyttelton Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family. Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...

, English jazz trumpeter and radio presenter (d. 2008) *19 July –

Harold Camping Harold Egbert Camping (July 19, 1921December 15, 2013) was an American Christian radio broadcaster and evangelist. Beginning in 1958, he served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that, at its peak, broadcast to ...

, American religious broadcaster (d. 2013) *21 September – Jimmy Young, English singer and broadcaster (d. 2016) *19 October – Bern Bennett, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014) *24 December –

Jimmy Clitheroe James Robinson Clitheroe (24 December 1921 – 6 June 1973) was an English comic entertainer. He is best remembered for his long-running BBC Radio programme, ''The Clitheroe Kid'' (1956–72). Early years Jimmy Clitheroe was born in Clitheroe, ...

, English comic entertainer (d. 1973)

References

List of firsts by KDKA-AM

Events

Debuts

Births

References

See also