Radio: Messages by Air
1895 AD
1895 1895
11.30E44.30N
SCI

BOLOGNA, ITALY
	Some scientists work all their lives on a problem without solving it, but not Marchese Guglielmo Marconi.
	In 1894 he began experimenting at his father's estate in Italy, trying to build a working radio.  Just one year later he succeeded.
	He approached the Italian government with his development, but it wasn't interested, so he went to the British government, which decided to equip three of its warships with Marconi's device.
	Soon radio proved its value.  In 1909 it helped save the lives of passengers when the steamship Republic sank, and again when the Titanic sank in 1912.
	During the 1940s, radio stations broadcast dramas, comedies, and variety shows, functions that have been largely taken over by television.
	Today, radio is used for all sorts of communication, from baby monitors to car telephones, to satellite navigation, military communications, and -- of course -- commercial broadcasting.