On the night the Titanic sank, one nearby ship's wireless operator had gone to bed while another heard the call only because his headset was still on. The episode follows radio from Maxwell and Hertz through Marconi to the Radio Act of 1912, the first broadcasts and the principle that broadcasters may use a channel in the public interest but never own it. Television and its critics follow.
Who's who
- Guglielmo MarconiWireless pioneer whose company chose which stations it would talk to
- Heinrich HertzPhysicist who generated and detected electromagnetic waves in the 1880s
- Cyril EvansCalifornian's operator who switched off his set and went to bed
- Harold CottamCarpathia's operator who heard the Titanic's call for help
- David SarnoffMarconi operator who rose to run the Radio Corporation of America
- Herbert Hoover+2 more episodesSecretary of Commerce responsible for radio licenses in the 1920s
- Philo FarnsworthInventor of all-electronic television who won a patent fight with RCA
- Newton MinowFCC chairman who called television a vast wasteland in 1961
Where it happens
- Signal Hill, St. John's, NewfoundlandWhere Marconi reported hearing a transatlantic signal in 1901
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania+4 more episodesHome of K-D-K-A, which broadcast 1920 election returns
- North Atlantic Ocean+2 more episodesWhere the Titanic sank in April 1912
- San Francisco, California+12 more episodesWhere Farnsworth's laboratory transmitted an electronic image in 1927
- Berlin, Germany+2 more episodesHost of the international radiotelegraph conferences
Timeline
- 1865Maxwell publishes his dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field
- December 12, 1901Marconi and Kemp report hearing a signal sent across the Atlantic
- August 13, 1912The Radio Act of 1912 requires federal licenses for stations and operators
- November 2, 1920K-D-K-A in Pittsburgh broadcasts presidential election returns
- June 19, 1934The Communications Act creates the Federal Communications Commission
- May 9, 1961Newton Minow calls television a vast wasteland
Still debated
Marconi's 1901 Atlantic signal may have been static or a harmonic, and his priority has been challenged on behalf of Lodge, Tesla, Popov and others. How far the Californian was from the Titanic and whether it could have saved lives is disputed, as is whether licensing served the public or protected incumbents.
Connected episodes in other series
The 1922 Deal That Split a River That Didn't Have Enough WaterCalifornia and Water · Episode 3Also features Herbert Hoover
Henry George: The Land Reformer America's Labor Movement LovedThe Deed and the Wage · Episode 7
Motordom Takes the StreetWho Tore Up the Tracks? · Episode 3Also features Herbert Hoover