# From sparks to streaming Canonical: https://worldradionow.top/museum/exhibition/ Language: en Radio Museum # From sparks to streaming Explore the machines, ideas and everyday memories that connect people through radio. Follow a story from the past, then listen to the world today. [01 · Sending without wires](#chapter-1)[02 · Bringing the world home](#chapter-2)[03 · Voices across borders](#chapter-3)[04 · Radio lives on](#chapter-4) 01 ## Sending without wires Discover how experiments with electromagnetic waves grew into communication across distance. [ 1895 ### Signals without a wire Marconi experimented with wireless signals in 1895. Explore the step from laboratory work to communication over distance; wireless telegraphy and spoken broadcasting are different stages of this story. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/wireless-signals/) [ 1837–1844 ### Who invented the telegraph? Several systems developed along different paths. Cooke and Wheatstone demonstrated a needle telegraph in Britain in 1837. Morse and Vail demonstrated their coded system between Washington and Baltimore in 1844. A key closes an electrical circuit; the receiver detects the changing current. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/electric-telegraph/) [ 1865–1888 ### Who discovered radio waves? Radio waves are a natural phenomenon. Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory, published in 1865, and Hertz’s experiments in the 1880s are different steps: prediction and experimental demonstration. Practical wireless communication came later. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/maxwell-hertz-radio-waves/) [ 1844 → ### Morse: a language of timing Short and long signals represent letters and numbers. Morse and Vail’s early American system differs from the modern International Morse code used in our game. ITU specifies both the signals and their spacing. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/morse-code/) [ 1912 ### Titanic and listening for distress The 1912 disaster exposed weaknesses in wireless watchkeeping and coordination. ITU’s account connects it with further international radio safety measures. Written messages and later sound recreations are different kinds of evidence; no Titanic transmission is presented here as an original audio recording. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/titanic-wireless-safety/) 02 ## Bringing the world home Explore how receivers and regular programmes changed everyday listening. [ 1920–1925 ### Listening through a crystal This Science Museum Group record describes a crystal receiver made in Manchester around 1920–1925. A small object opens a question: how much skill did early listening require? Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/crystal-listening/) [ 1922 ### 2LO: a voice from London The Science Museum dates the first BBC broadcast from 2LO to 14 November 1922. A transmitter helps us connect technical equipment with the growth of regular programmes. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/2lo-london/) [ 1930s ### FM: changing how a signal carries sound Edwin Armstrong’s work on frequency modulation in the 1930s addressed interference in radio reception. FM varies the frequency of a carrier; AM varies its amplitude. Internet streaming delivers encoded audio through a different network. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/fm-radio/) [ 1909 ### Who invented the radio receiver? There is no single inventor behind every part of a radio. Wave theory, experiments, detectors, tuning and amplification developed through different contributions. Marconi and Braun shared the 1909 Nobel Prize for work on wireless telegraphy. A telegraph signal is not yet a spoken radio programme, and a receiver is not the same object as a transmitter. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/who-invented-the-radio/) 03 ## Voices across borders Consider broadcasting, public information and the different uses of radio during conflict. [ 1939–1945 ### The contested airwaves IWM preserves a recording associated with Deutscher Freiheitssender 29.8 from 3 October 1939. Examine who made a broadcast, its audience and purpose before treating its message as evidence. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/wartime-airwaves/) 04 ## Radio lives on Follow portable listening into today’s world of online stations. [ 1954 ### A radio you could carry The Smithsonian records the Regency TR-1 as a 1954 transistor radio. Portability invites us to consider how a shared household activity could become a more personal listening experience. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/pocket-radio/) [ 2026 ### The world is still on air Today, World Radio Now links listeners to public station streams. Compare the experience with earlier receivers: the path to a programme changes, while voices, music and local identity remain worth exploring. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/listening-today/) [ 1957 ### Sputnik: a signal heard around the world The Soviet Union launched Sputnik on 4 October 1957. Its radio beacon could be monitored by radio enthusiasts. The archive sound is a signal, not a voice or a studio programme. Read the story → ](/museum/exhibits/sputnik-radio-signal/) ## Sources & further reading - [Signals without a wire](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1909/marconi/biographical/) - [Listening through a crystal](https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8414466/cats-whisker-crystal-radio) - [2LO: a voice from London](https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/this-is-2lo-london-broadcasting-station-calling/) - [The contested airwaves](https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80014599) - [A radio you could carry](https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_713528) - [The world is still on air](https://worldradionow.top/about/) - [Who invented the telegraph?](https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/revealing-the-real-cooke-and-wheatstone-telegraph-dial/) - [Who discovered radio waves?](https://www.deutsches-museum.de/museumsinsel/ausstellung/physik) - [Morse: a language of timing](https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-M.1677-1-200910-I/) - [Titanic and listening for distress](https://www.itu.int/en/history/pages/itushistory-page-2.aspx) - [FM: changing how a signal carries sound](https://reach.ieee.org/multimedia/edwin-h-armstrong-radio-pioneer-fm-radio-and-the-later-years/) - [Sputnik: a signal heard around the world](https://www.nasa.gov/history/65-years-ago-sputnik-ushers-in-the-space-age/) - [Who invented the radio receiver?](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1909/summary/)