# Radio Museum Canonical: https://worldradionow.top/museum/ Language: en WORLD RADIO NOW / Free admission · No account needed # A world of voices. Open to everyone. Explore the machines, ideas and everyday memories that connect people through radio. Follow a story from the past, then listen to the world today. [Listen to live radio ↗](/?lang=en)[Enter the exhibition →](/museum/exhibition/) Original interpretive illustration, not an archival photograph. 1837 ↓ 2026 01 — 04 ## From sparks to streaming [ 01 ### Sending without wires Discover how experiments with electromagnetic waves grew into communication across distance. ](/museum/exhibition/#chapter-1)[ 02 ### Bringing the world home Explore how receivers and regular programmes changed everyday listening. ](/museum/exhibition/#chapter-2)[ 03 ### Voices across borders Consider broadcasting, public information and the different uses of radio during conflict. ](/museum/exhibition/#chapter-3)[ 04 ### Radio lives on Follow portable listening into today’s world of online stations. ](/museum/exhibition/#chapter-4) ## Explore the exhibits [ 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/) [ 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/) [ 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/) [ 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/) [ 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/) [ 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/) [ 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/) [ 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/) 1944 / 1945 / 1969 ## Historical sound room Original voices, documented moments. Choose a recording to listen; nothing plays automatically. [Hear history through radio →](/museum/sounds/) 1837 — 2026 ## A listening timeline [ 1837–1844 Who invented the telegraph? ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/electric-telegraph/) [ 1844 → Morse: a language of timing ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/morse-code/) [ 1865–1888 Who discovered radio waves? ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/maxwell-hertz-radio-waves/) [ 1895 Signals without a wire ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/wireless-signals/) [ 1909 Who invented the radio receiver? ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/who-invented-the-radio/) [ 1912 Titanic and listening for distress ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/titanic-wireless-safety/) [ 1920–1925 Listening through a crystal ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/crystal-listening/) [ 1922 2LO: a voice from London ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/2lo-london/) [ 1930s FM: changing how a signal carries sound ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/fm-radio/) [ 1939–1945 The contested airwaves ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/wartime-airwaves/) [ 1954 A radio you could carry ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/pocket-radio/) [ 1957 Sputnik: a signal heard around the world ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/sputnik-radio-signal/) [ 2026 The world is still on air ↗ ](/museum/exhibits/listening-today/) ## Museum journal Journal articles are in English. [All topics →](/museum/journal/) [](/museum/articles/from-2lo-to-the-world-a-century-of-the-bbc/) history · English ### [From 2LO to the World: A Century of the BBC](/museum/articles/from-2lo-to-the-world-a-century-of-the-bbc/) How a crackly voice from a London rooftop in 1922 became the world's most trusted broadcaster — from 2LO to the Empire Service to today. [ Read the story →](/museum/articles/from-2lo-to-the-world-a-century-of-the-bbc/) history · English ### [Sputnik: what a repeating signal could mean to a listener](/museum/articles/sputnik-beeps-and-listeners-on-earth/) A small radio beacon made an orbiting satellite audible from Earth. Its beeps differ from both speech and a broadcast programme. [ Read the story →](/museum/articles/sputnik-beeps-and-listeners-on-earth/) history · English ### [Titanic: why having wireless was not enough](/museum/articles/titanic-wireless-listening-and-safety/) The 1912 disaster connects communication equipment with the human and institutional work of listening for distress. [ Read the story →](/museum/articles/titanic-wireless-listening-and-safety/) history · English ### [Radio waves were discovered, not invented](/museum/articles/maxwell-hertz-radio-waves-not-an-invention/) Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory and Hertz’s experiments answer different questions from the invention of a receiving set. [ Read the story →](/museum/articles/maxwell-hertz-radio-waves-not-an-invention/) technology · English ### [How a telegraph key turns a circuit into a message](/museum/articles/electric-telegraph-how-the-key-works/) A simple electrical circuit explains the key, but different telegraph systems used different ways to represent information. [ Read the story →](/museum/articles/electric-telegraph-how-the-key-works/) technology · English ### [Morse code: why the silence matters as much as the beep](/museum/articles/morse-code-why-the-silence-matters/) Dots and dashes are only part of the system. Spacing tells a listener where a character or word ends. [ Read the story →](/museum/articles/morse-code-why-the-silence-matters/) [ ## A classroom of sound Use this printable sheet with the exhibition. Read the linked source records, compare what objects reveal and discuss the questions together. ](/museum/learn/)[ ## Morse playground Turn letters into sound, solve a listening challenge and try a telegraph key. No account needed. ](/museum/lab/) ## 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/)