Know More About Technology

did you know?

First Radio Broadcast

On 24 December 1906, the first radio broadcast for entertainment and music was transmitted from Brant Rock, Massachusetts to the general public. This pioneering broadcast was achieved after years of development work by Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (1866-1932) who built a complete system of wireless transmission and reception using amplitude modulation (AM) of continuous electromagnetic waves. This technology was a revolutionary departure from transmission of dots and dashes widespread at the time.

January 1906: Rotary-spark transmitter and first two-way transatlantic transmission

Using his rotary-spark transmitters, Fessenden made the first successful two-way transatlantic transmission, exchanging Morse code messages between the station at Brant Rock and an identical one built at Machrihanish in Scotland. (Note that Marconi had only achieved one-way transmissions at this time.) However, the transmitters could not bridge this distance during daylight hours or in the summer, so work was suspended until later in the year. Unfortunately, the Machrihanish radio tower collapsed, abruptly ending the transatlantic work.

December 21, 1906: Alternator-transmitter used for wireless telephony

Fessenden gives a major demonstration of his new high frequency alternator-transmitter at Brant Rock, showing its utility for point-to-point wireless telephony, by interconnecting his stations (at Plymouth and Brant Rock) to the Bell telephone network. Prominent experts, Elihu Thompson and Greenleaf Pickard, together with others, witnessed the event. Refer to an article entitled “Experiments and Results in Wireless Telephony” published in The American Telephone Journal. On January 26, 1907. 

1906: Three days before Christmas Eve (Helen Fessenden’s book, p. 153)

Reginald Fessenden plans to give two radio broadcasts, on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Station staff notifies the ships of the US Navy and of the United Fruit Company to listen. These ships had previously been fitted with radio receivers.

December 24, 1906

Alternator-transmitter and the first radio broadcast.
Landmark broadcast of transmission of ordinary speech and music from Brant Rock to ships sailing along the Atlantic coast. A repeat broadcast performance was given on New Years Eve. Reception is confirmed by the listeners.

The historical site is located at Blackman’s Point, Brant Rock, in the County of Plymouth Massachusetts. Blackman’s Point is a few miles from the center of Marshfield. The Town of Marshfield is approximately 30 miles south-east of Boston. The remaining concrete foundation built to support Fessenden’s wireless tower, is in a trailer park owned by the Blackman family at the south end of the town of Brant Rock, off of Central St.