November 2, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the first commercial radio broadcast. To celebrate this special anniversary, we’re shining a spotlight on 100 key moments in radio's history.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating your favorite radio memories throughout 2020. Use the hashtag #Radio100 across social media to share these moments with the world. Here’s to 100 wonderful years of radio, and to at least 100 more!Moment #1: November 2, 1920
KDKA Makes First Commercial Broadcast
Moment #3: 1971
Bob Uecker Begins His Radio Career
Moment #5: 1947
Groucho Marx Hosts 'You Bet Your Life'
Moment #6: January 1, 1997
Emergency Alert System (EAS) Launches
Moment #7: July 1, 1987
Debut of Country's First 24-hour All Sports Radio Station, WFAN
Moment #8: June 18, 1940
Winston Churchill Delivers 'This Was Their Finest Hour' Speech
Moment #9: October 25, 1954
First Transitor Radio Hits the Consumer Market
Moment #10: June 8, 1954
Elvis Presley Heard on the Radio for the First Time
Moment #11: 1965-1968
Radio Covers Height of U.S. Engagement in Vietnam War
Moment #12: May 17, 1973
Radio Brings Watergate Hearings to Americans' Living Rooms
Moment #13: 1937
Red Skelton's Radio Career Begins
Moment #14: July 15, 1929
'Music & the Spoken Word' Debuts
Moment #15: 2010
BMW Makes HD Radio Standard
Moment #16: March 13, 1938
Premiere of CBS World News Roundup
Moment #17: December 29, 2009
Ford Becomes First Automaker to Offer HD Radio with iTunes Tagging
Moment #18: April 5, 1985
Stations Around the Globe Air 'We Are the World'
Moment #19: March 19, 1932
Jack Benny's Radio Debut
Moment #21: January 2, 1969
The First Radio Reading Service for the Blind
Moment #22: December 17, 1936
Debut of 'The Edgar Berger and Charlie McCarthy Show'
Moment #23: 1990
Digital Audio Broadcasting Arrives
Moment #24: 1945
The Beginning of Talk Radio
Moment #25: 2003
Radio Stations Regularly Transmitting in HD Radio
Moment #26: August 2005
Hurricane Katrina
Moment #27: December 25, 1931
First Live Opera Broadcast
Moment #28: January 8, 1993
Radio Data Standard Released for Use in the U.S.
Moment #29: October 14, 1934
Debut of Lux Radio Theater
Moment #30: March 5, 1921
Herbert Hoover Becomes Secretary of Commerce
Moment #32: 1946
First Full-Time Spanish-Language Radio Station in the United States Developed
Moment #34: 1976
Allison Steele named 'FM Personality of the Year' by Billboard Magazine
Moment #35: 1932
WOC-AM in Davenport, Iowa, Hires Ronald Reagan
Moment #36: 1984
Delilah Debuts 'Lights Out' on KLSY 92.5 FM
Moment #37: March 6, 1931
Debut of The March of Time – Radio News Program
Moment #38: October 22, 1962
JFK's Address on Cuban Missile Crisis
Moment #39: September 25, 1789
Bill of Rights Passes Congress
Moment #40: November 15, 1926
NBC Debuts on Radio
Moment #41: June 10, 1924
The First Radio Program Broadcast from a Presidential Convention
Moment #42: September 22, 2020
It's National Voter Registration Day!
Moment #43: August 10, 1935
One of the First Traffic Condition Reports from the Skies
Moment #44: November 22, 1963
Assasination of President John F. Kennedy
Moment #45: August 8, 1974
President Richard M. Nixon Resigns
Moment #46: December 8, 1995
First Station Licensed to Operate on the AM Expanded Band
Moment #47: 1963
The Beatles Are Played on the Radio for the First Time
Moment #48: June 23, 1933
First Airing of Don McNiell's Breakfast Club
Moment #49: May 12, 1930
First Airing of Walter Winchell on the Radio
Moment #50: 1938
First World Series Announced by Mel Allen
Moment #51: 1946
Matinee with Bob and Ray Airs
Moment #52: April 3, 1982
President Ronald Reagan begins Saturday Morning Radio Addresses
Moment #53: September 11, 2001
Local Radio Stations Keep Listeners Informed During 9/11
Moment #54: 1939
Hal Jackson's First Time On Air
Moment #55: August 31, 1920
8MK Detroit Airs First Radio News Program
Moment #56: 1901
Marconi Sends First Trans-Atlantic Transmission
Moment #57: April 18, 1950
First Dodgers Broadcast of Vin Scully's 67-Year Career
Moment #58: November 9, 1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Moment #59: May 8, 1945
Germany Surrenders in WWII
Moment #60: 1941
Columbia University's Radio Club Opens First Regularly Scheduled FM Station
Moment #61: March 12, 1933
Roosevelt's First Fireside Chat
Moment #62: September 2, 1945
Victory Over Japan Day
Moment #63: 1923
National Association of Broadcasters Founded
Moment #65: October 8, 1921
First Live Radio Broadcast of a Football Game
Moment #66: July 21, 1925
Scopes Monkey Trial
Moment #67: August 28, 1963
'I Have A Dream' Speech
Moment #68: November 7, 1967
President Johnson Signs Public Broadcasting Act
Moment #69: August 26, 1920
Radio’s Vital Role in Women’s Suffrage and Democracy
Moment #70: 1920
First FM "Master Antenna" Goes into Service
Moment #71: December 23, 1947
Bell Laboratories Demonstrates the First Transistor
Moment #72: 1888
Heinrich Hertz Detects and Produces Radio Waves
Moment #73: September 3, 1939
Great Britain Declares War on Germany
Moment #74: November 28, 1925
Grand Ole Opry Radio Show Founded
Moment #75: July 20, 1969
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
Moment #76: November 17, 1995
"This American Life" Premieres as "Your Radio Playhouse"
Moment #77: November 29, 1934
First Professional Football Game on Radio
Moment #78: March 4, 1925
First National Radio Broadcast of a Presidential Inauguration
Moment #79: 1930
First American Car Radio Manufactured
Moment #80: December 7, 1941
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
Moment #81: 1934
FCC Is Formed, Replacing FRC
Moment #82: 1923
WEAF New York Accepts First Radio Ad
Moment #83: August 5, 1921
First Broadcast of a Professional Baseball Game
Moment #84: 1907
Lee De Forest Is First to Transmit Music Over Airwaves
Moment #85: May 6, 1937
The Hindenburg Explodes
Moment #86: October 25, 1993
FCC Adopts Single Standard for AM Stereo Broadcasting
Moment #87: June 27, 1945
FCC Alllocates 88-108 MHz for FM Broadcasting
Moment #88: April 1, 1951
ABC Radio Network Debuts Paul Harvey News and Comment
Moment #89: April 17, 1945
Harry Caray Calls His First Game
Moment #90: April 18, 1935
Deal Struck for World Series Broadcast to National Audience
Moment #91: November 5, 1935
Edwin H. Armstrong Publicly Demonstrates FM Radio
Moment #92: 1930
"Clara, Lu and Em" Becomes Radio's First Daytime Soap Opera
Moment #93: March 1, 1932
Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping
Moment #95: June 1, 1961
First FM Stereo Broadcast
Moment #97: July 4, 1970
American Top 40 with Casey Kasem Launches
Moment #98: Dec. 6, 1923
First National Radio Broadcast of State of the Union Address
Moment #99: June 12, 1955
Marilyn Monroe Gives Rare Radio Interview
Moment #100: October 30, 1938
War of the Worlds Grips the Nation
This site is brought to you by the National Association of Broadcasters. We advocate for the nation's radio and television broadcasters.
