Try to imagine what your life would be like without television, if just one day you couldn’t watch TV? Receiving information on television is already a habit, an important part of your life. But have you ever asked the question: who invented radio?
In ancient times, people communicated by running or riding horses, which was both time-consuming and labor-intensive. By the 19th century, with the rise of capitalist production, these traditional methods of communication could no longer meet the growing demand for rapid information exchange, even with newer methods such as trains and ships.
When electricity entered the scientific stage, people aspired to revolutionize communication through electrical innovations. To solve this challenging scientific and technical problem, countless individuals devoted immense effort and passion to navigating the arduous path of discovery. Ultimately, their dedication led to remarkable achievements in science.
In the late 1830s, American Breese Morse (1791–1872) successfully invented the practical telegraph and established the first wired telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore in 1844. In 1876, American Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) invented the telephone. By the 1890s, wireless telegraphy was also invented, marking another breakthrough in communication technology.
However, who first discovered wireless telegraphy remains a topic of ongoing debate, with no definitive consensus to this day.
Some believe that wireless telegraphy was first discovered by the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937). In 1894, at the age of 20, Marconi discovered the properties of electromagnetic waves through the obituary of Heinrich Hertz. This inspired him to explore the use of electromagnetic waves for wireless communication. Marconi went on to establish a wireless telegraphy company, where he began manufacturing induction coils for generating electromagnetic waves and detectors for receiving them.
However, Marconi was not satisfied with the limited range of early wireless telegraphy. In 1901, he constructed a towering transmission station in England, successfully transmitting electromagnetic signals across the Atlantic Ocean to the opposite shore.
On the other hand, many Soviet scholars argue that the true pioneer of wireless telegraphy was the Russian scientist Alexander Popov. These scholars claim that Popov invented wireless telegraphy in 1895. Shortly afterward, his invention saved 27 fishermen who had been stranded on drifting ice in the Polar Sea. Thanks to wireless telegraphy, they were rescued.
However, despite this achievement, Popov’s wireless telegraphy was not widely adopted in Russia at the time. This debate over who first invented wireless telegraphy continues to spark controversy among historians and scientists.
In 1895, when Alexander Popov requested 1,000 rubles from the Russian government to fund the development of wireless telegraphy equipment, the Minister of War dismissed the idea, stating, “I will not allow money to be wasted on such fantasies.” This lack of support enabled Marconi to capitalize on the invention. Marconi worked tirelessly to claim the priority of the wireless telegraph as his own. Some even allege that Marconi, an opportunistic Italian businessman, appropriated Popov’s invention, which had been disregarded by the conservative Tsarist authorities, and falsely presented it as his own groundbreaking discovery.
Some scholars have attempted to reconcile the debate by suggesting that Marconi and Popov might have independently completed the development of wireless telegraphy around the same time. They argue that wireless telegraphy, one of the most significant technological achievements of the 19th century, was rooted in the foundational work of German scientist Heinrich Hertz. In 1888, Hertz discovered electromagnetic waves during experiments with electrical discharges, providing definitive proof of James Clerk Maxwell’s theoretical predictions about electromagnetic waves. Utilizing these radio waves for communication appears to have been a simultaneous accomplishment by Marconi and Popov.
In summary, opinions on this matter remain divided. To this day, there is no definitive conclusion as to whether the true inventor of wireless telegraphy was Marconi or Popov.
