Crack open that bottle of champagne and raise a belated toast! November 2, 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the first widely recognized radio broadcast in the U.S.
By most accounts, that first broadcast took place on November 2, 1920 and aired on radio station KDKA in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The focus of the broadcast was to relay the results of the 1920 U.S. presidential election, when Republican Warren G. Harding soundly defeated Democratic opponent James M. Cox, taking 404 electoral votes (out of 531) and garnering more than 60% of the popular vote.
“Radio has given us a way to come together in times of triumph,” said FCC Chair Ajit Pai in a press release issued by the agency on the anniversary date. “We look forward to the stories that radio will continue to tell.”
Read the FCC’s press release on the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast in the U.S.
