January 30 In Radio History

In 1913...Radio host Percy Thrower English was born.

In 1927...WADO 1280 AM in NYC signed on as WGL

In 1933..."The Lone Ranger" debuted on WXYZ radio in Detroit. The program ran for 2,956 episodes and finished in 1955. The show was an immediate success. Though it was aimed at children, adults made up at least half the audience. It became so popular, it was picked up by the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and on May 2, 1942 by NBC's Blue Network, which in time became ABC. The last new episode was broadcast September 3, 1954. Recorded repeats of the 1952–53 episodes continued to be aired on ABC until June 24, 1955.



In 1969...On the roof of their own Apple Studios in London, the Beatles gave their last public live performance. They performed "Get Back" (take 1), "Get Back" (take 2), "Don't Let Me Down" (take 1), "I've Got A Feeling" (take 1), "One After 909," "Dig A Pony," "I've Got A Feeling" (take 2), "Don't Let Me Down" (take 2), "Get Back" (take 3). The concert came to an abrupt end after 42 minutes when police shut it down in response to the complaints of a nearby shop owner.

In 1978...The Mutual Broadcasting System began airing Larry King's overnight radio talk show.


In 1999...Announcer (Universal newsreels, Your Show of Shows, The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, Kraft Television Theater, As the World Turns, All My Children, the commercial voice of Kraft Foods for more than 40 years) Ed Herlihy died at age 89.  Ed Herlihy also hosted the WNBC radio program "Honeymoon in New York"