Frank Conrad

Today is the birthday of electrical engineer Frank Conrad, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1874. Despite having a seventh-grade education, he quickly rose through the ranks at Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming assistant chief engineer. At his home in Wilkinsburg, Penn., he tinkered with equipment and established an amateur radio station in 1919. He started with a microphone but then moved on to playing music from his phonograph. Listeners who built their own radio receivers or bought them from a local department store started making requests, so Conrad borrowed music from a local store in exchange for a mention on the air. Harry Davis, a vice president of Westinghouse, realized the potential of Conrad’s broadcasts and laid plans for the first commercial radio station. On November 2, 1920, the newly licensed station KDKA commenced its inaugural broadcast by reporting the results of Warren G. Harding’s victory in the presidential election. For all his accomplishments, Conrad is often called “the father of radio broadcasting.”

Date in History: 4 May 1874