➦In 1866...Reginald Aubrey Fessenden born (Died at age 65 – July 22, 1932). He was a Canadian-born radio pioneer, who did a majority of his work in the United States and also claimed U.S. citizenship through his American-born father. During his life he received hundreds of patents in various fields, most notably ones related to radio and sonar.
Reginald Fessenden |
After studies at Bishop University, Fessenden went to work for Thomas Edison, then the Westinghouse labs and the US Weather Service. In 1902, he started his own company to develop his superheterodyne discoveries, and in 1906 accomplished the first two-way radio voice transmission between Scotland and his shore station at Brant Rock Massachusetts.
That Christmas he broadcast the world’s first public program of music and voice transmitted over long distances, from Brant Rock to the ships at sea. He had over 300 patents, and was awarded $2.5 million by the US Radio Trust for his inventions, many of which were used by the US in World War I without his permission.
➦In 1949...Japanese-American broadcaster, Iva Toguri D'Aquino (Tokyo Rose, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000 for treason.
Tokyo Rose |
Tokyo Rose ceased to be merely a symbol in September 1945 when D'Aquino, an American-born Japanese disc jockey for a propagandist radio program, attempted to return to the U-S. Toguri was accused of being the 'real' Tokyo Rose, arrested, tried, and became the seventh person in U.S. history to be convicted of treason. Toguri was eventually paroled from prison in 1956, but it was more than 20 years before she received an official presidential pardon for her role in the war.
U.S. President Gerald Ford pardoned Toguri in 1977.
➦In 1953...Rocky Fortune, an American radio drama, debuted on NBC Radio beginning in October 1953. The series ended its run in March 1954 after 25 episodes. The program was created by George Lefferts. Frank Sinatra voiced the title role of Rocky Fortune for the entire series.
Rocky Fortune aired Tuesday nights on NBC at 9:35pm Eastern, immediately following Dragnet (and a five-minute John Cameron Swayze newscast). It was a sustaining series, meaning that NBC presented the program without corporate sponsorship.
➦In 1976...“Disco Duck” by Memphis radio personality Rick Dees (and His Cast of Idiots) was certified as a Gold Record.