➦In 1679...Philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz described binary numbering. In mathematics and digital electronics, a binary number is a number expressed in the base-2 numeral system or binary numeral system, which uses only two symbols: typically "0" (zero) and "1" (one).
The base-2 numeral system is a positional notation with a radix of 2. Each digit is referred to as a bit. Because of its straightforward implementation in digital electronic circuitry using logic gates, the binary system is used by almost all modern computers and computer-based devices.
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David Schoenbrun - 1950 |
➦In 1915...Journalist David Schoenbrun born (Died at age 73 - May 23, 1988), Schoenbrun enlisted in the Army in 1943 and became a World War 2 correspondent covering North Africa through to the liberation of France.
After the war, from 1947 to 1964, Schoenbrun worked for CBS, serving primarily as the network's bureau chief in Paris. He was one of the reporters known as Murrow's Boys.
From the 1960s through the 1980s, Schoenbrun served as a news analyst for WNEW Radio in New York (now WBBR) and other Metromedia broadcast properties, and later for crosstown WPIX Television and its Independent Network News operation. In the mid-1970s.
Schoenbrun is the author of On and Off the Air, a personal account of the history of CBS News through the 1970s.
➦In 1922...WSB-AM Atlanta signed-on.
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First Employees Walter Iller, Walter Tison |
The call-sign "WSB" carried an infamous history before it was assigned to a land-based broadcaster in Atlanta.
In very early days of radio licensing, sea-based broadcasters were included in the call-sign assignment system. The first licensee of the call-sign "WSB" was the S.S. Francis H. Leggett. After foundering off the Oregon coast on September 18, 1914, taking a toll of two of the 67 lives aboard, the call "WSB" was reassigned to the Firewood, the name of which forms a grim coincidence with its fate: the ship burned off the coast of Peru on December 18, 1919, with 28 persons on board, all of whom were saved.
Because superstitious seafarers objected to being issued a call "used by that ship which went down with all hands last month", "tainted" calls like "WSB" were quietly issued to unsinkable land stations.
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Lambdin Kay, First GM |
Originally on 740 kHz until the 1936 FCC band plan, WSB was the fourth radio station in the South, behind the first AM station, WBT 1110 AM in Charlotte, licensed in December, 1920... WNOX 990 AM in Knoxville, Tennessee licensed in November, 1921... and WWL 850 AM in New Orleans, licensed 13 days before WSB in March, 1922.
They, among others, are all considered "clear channel" stations. That designation is given to frequencies on which only one or two stations are assigned to a frequency that allows full power transmission day and night.
The WSB broadcast call sign stands for "Welcome South, Brother". Founded by the Atlanta Journal newspaper (once a competitor of the Atlanta Constitution, now merged), the station began broadcasting on March 15, 1922, just a few days prior to Constitution-owned WGM 710 AM (eventually swapped to WGST 640 AM.
➦In 1923..The U.S. Commerce Department reported that 524 radio stations were authorized to operate on the 830 kHz frequency. At the time, the Commerce Department held sole regulatory power over broadcasting, and this snapshot highlights the chaotic early days of radio. With so many stations sharing a single frequency, time-sharing arrangements were common, reflecting the medium’s rapid growth and the regulatory challenges that led to the creation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927.
➦In 1946...In New York City, a dinner honoring Winston Churchill (right) was broadcast by major networks—ABC, CBS, NBC—and nine independent stations. The event showcased radio’s role in amplifying global figures and fostering a shared national experience. That same day, Mutual Broadcasting System revealed that 70% of its 255 affiliates were in single-station markets, underscoring radio’s penetration into small-town America and its reliance on local broadcasters. Meanwhile, Swift Packing Company signed a five-year, $5 million deal with ABC to sponsor two daily segments of Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club, a popular morning show. And the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) filed a brief with the FCC to repeal the AVCO Rule, which complicated station ownership transfers—a sign of the industry’s push for deregulation as it matured.
➦In 1947...A Pennsylvania housewife won the Truth or Consequences “Mrs. Hush” contest on NBC. Identifying silent film star Clara Bow as the mystery voice, she claimed a $17,500 prize package—the largest radio giveaway to date—after a contest that drew over a million entries and raised $400,000 for the March of Dimes. This event captures radio’s power to engage mass audiences interactively, blending entertainment with philanthropy in a way that defined its cultural dominance.
➦In 1956...Elvis Presley signed a management deal with Colonel Tom Parker. Their partnership was uniquely successful, Elvis being an entirely new force in popular music, and Parker an entrepreneurial genius able to market him.
A carnival worker by background, Parker moved into music promotion, earning the courtesy rank of ‘Colonel’ from a grateful singer Jimmie Davis, who had become governor of Louisiana. After discovering the teenage Tommy Sands, Parker talent-spotted the unknown Elvis Presley, and skillfully maneuvered himself into position as his sole representative with control over much of his private life. Within months, he had won Presley a recording contract with the prestigious RCA Victor record label, made him a star with his first single Heartbreak Hotel, negotiated lucrative merchandising deals, made plans for TV appearances as well as a new career as an actor in film musicals.
➦In 1964... Pioneering radio deejay Alan Freed indicted by Federal Grand jury for income tax evasion. On January 23, 1986, Freed was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. In 1988, he was also posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. On December 10, 1991, Freed was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
➦In 1971...CBS announced the cancellation of The Ed Sullivan Show.