July 20 Radio History

Loomis in 1865

➦In 1872...Mahlon Loomis was awarded a patent for wireless technology heralding the beginning of radio. Loomis was the first wireless telegrapher.

In the mid-1800s it had been well established that the Earth was surrounded by a significant electrical field, and Loomis felt passionately that this was an overlooked resource of vast potential, both for generating electrical power, and as a conduit that would support worldwide wireless communication.

Loomis was also a dentist, the inventor of artificial teeth (patent #10,847 May 2, 1854), and the earliest inventor of wireless communication (patent #129,971).

He was born July 26, 1826 in Oppenheim, New York and died, October 13, 1886 in Terra Alta, West Virginia.

➦In 1890...Character actor Verna Felton born in Salinas, CA  (Died from a stroke – December 14, 1966). She was best known for providing many voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople in Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones (1962–1963).

She also had roles in live-action films; however, she was most active in radio programs. She was known for her husky voice and no-nonsense attitude. Two of her most famous roles were as Dennis Day's mother Mrs. Day on The Jack Benny Program (1939–1962) and as Hilda Crocker on the CBS sitcom December Bride (1952–1959).

Felton worked extensively in the 1930s and '50s in Hollywood radio, notably playing The Mom in The Cinnamon Bear, Junior the Mean Widdle Kid's grandmother on Red Skelton's radio series, Hattie Hirsch on Point Sublime, and Dennis Day's protective, domineering, and authoritative mother, Mrs Day, who was always looking out for him while trying to boss around Jack Benny on The Jack Benny Program. In addition, she performed on radio as a regular on The Abbott and Costello Show and The Great Gildersleeve.

➦In 1935…The crime drama G-Men debuted on NBC Radio. It was renamed Gang Busters in January 1936 and moved to CBS Radio. The series ran for 21 years.

➦In 1937…Guglielmo Marconi died in Rome on 20 July 1937 at age 63, following a series of heart attacks, and Italy held a state funeral for him.  As a tribute, all radio stations throughout the world observed two minutes of silence on the next day.

When Marconi made his famous first transatlantic radio transmission in 1901, rival inventor Nikola Tesla claimed that it was done with 17 Tesla patents. Thus began years of patent battles over radio with Tesla's patents being upheld in 1903, followed by a reverse decision in favor of Marconi in 1904.

In June 1943, the United States Supreme Court restored patent rights to Tesla, saying their decision had no bearing on Marconi's claim as the first to achieve radio transmission, just that because Marconi's claim to certain patents was questionable, he could not claim infringement on those same patents.

➦In 2018...Adrian Joseph Cronauer, best known for co-writing the original story for the film "Good Morning Vietnam" about his time as an DJ at American Forces Vietnam Radio, died at the age of 79.