# Hear history through radio Canonical: https://worldradionow.top/museum/sounds/ Language: en Radio Museum # Hear history through radio Original voices, documented moments. Choose a recording to listen; nothing plays automatically. ## Signals through history · A short film /museum-assets/signals-through-history.mp4 /museum-assets/history-context-en.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-zh.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-zh-hant.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-ja.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-ko.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-vi.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-th.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-de.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-fr.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-ar.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-es.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-pt.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-ru.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-hi.vtt /museum-assets/history-context-id.vtt Three archival excerpts with original animation: D-Day, China’s victory address and Apollo 11. Subtitles provide historical context, not a verbatim translation. [MP4 · 00:53](/museum-assets/signals-through-history.mp4) · [VTT · English](/museum-assets/history-context-en.vtt) ## Explore the recordings Choose a theme All recordings Early broadcasting War & peace Space & signals A changing world Apply filter 1933-03-12 · English ### A fireside chat about banking Franklin D. Roosevelt https://www.fdrlibrary.org/documents/356632/405112/afdr013.mp3/097bd699-7563-49a0-8191-0db3bf313d4b Roosevelt’s 12 March 1933 radio address used the domestic receiver to explain a national banking crisis. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library · afdr013 [Archive & source ↗](https://www.fdrlibrary.org/utterancesfdr#afdr013) 1939-09-03 · English ### War is declared Neville Chamberlain /museum-assets/war-declaration-1939.mp3 Wikimedia Commons · PD-UKGov [Archive & source ↗](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chamberlain-war-declaration.ogg) 1941-12-08 · English ### The “Day of Infamy” address Franklin D. Roosevelt https://www.fdrlibrary.org/documents/356632/405112/afdr244.mp3/b37c9e47-9056-4932-b08b-d85cc22e586b Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library · afdr244 [Archive & source ↗](https://www.fdrlibrary.org/utterancesfdr#afdr244) 1944-06-06 · English ### D-Day: Order of the Day Dwight D. Eisenhower /museum-assets/dday-order-1944.mp3 Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library [Archive & source ↗](https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/eisenhowers/speeches) 1945 · 简体中文 ### China: the victory address Chiang Kai-shek · 蔣中正 /museum-assets/china-victory-1945.mp3 The victory address was broadcast on 15 August 1945. The Commons copy is catalogued as 1 September; the date of that copy remains to be reconciled. Wikimedia Commons · PD China / Taiwan / U.S. [Archive & source ↗](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chiang_Kai-shek_on_the_end_of_World_War_II_(1945).ogg) [Radio Taiwan International · 1945 victory address](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ra0B9yhsU) 1945-08-15 · 日本語 ### Japan: the war-ending broadcast Emperor Shōwa · 昭和天皇 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Imperial_Rescript_on_the_Termination_of_the_War.ogg Wikimedia Commons · Imperial Rescript [Archive & source ↗](https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/kunaicho/koho/taisenkankei/syusen/syusen.html) 1950-07-19 · English ### The Korean War: a U.S. radio address Harry S. Truman 1 / 2 https://catalog.archives.gov/medialz/presidential-libraries/truman/sound-recordings/2021-10/33-HST-SR62-79-1.mp3 2 / 2 https://catalog.archives.gov/medialz/presidential-libraries/truman/sound-recordings/2021-10/33-HST-SR62-79-2.mp3 This is a U.S. address about the Korean War, not a North or South Korean broadcast. Harry S. Truman Presidential Library · SR62-79 · ABC [Archive & source ↗](https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/soundrecording-records/sr62-79-president-trumans-radio-and-television-address-american-people) 1957 · Signal ### Sputnik: a signal from orbit Sputnik 1 · radio beacon /museum-assets/sputnik-1957.mp3 A radio beacon rather than a spoken programme. NASA’s collection preserves this signal associated with the satellite launched in 1957. NASA · Historical Sounds · Sputnik signal [Archive & source ↗](https://www.nasa.gov/historical-sounds/) 1968-12-24 · English ### Apollo 8: a Christmas greeting Apollo 8 crew · Frank Borman /museum-assets/apollo8-1968.mp3 A short greeting from lunar orbit in December 1968, not the complete Christmas Eve broadcast. NASA · Historical Sounds · Merry Christmas [Archive & source ↗](https://www.nasa.gov/historical-sounds/) 1969-07-20 UTC · English ### Apollo 11: the Eagle has landed Neil Armstrong /museum-assets/eagle-1969.mp3 The landing report on 20 July 1969 UTC, before the first steps heard in the other Apollo 11 recording. NASA · Historical Sounds · Eagle has landed [Archive & source ↗](https://www.nasa.gov/historical-sounds/) 1969-07-21 UTC · English ### Apollo 11: a voice from the Moon Neil Armstrong /museum-assets/moon-step-1969.mp3 NASA · Historical Sounds [Archive & source ↗](https://www.nasa.gov/historical-sounds/) 1970-04-14 UTC · English ### Apollo 13: reporting a problem Apollo 13 crew & Mission Control /museum-assets/apollo13-1970.mp3 Spacecraft and ground control exchange during the emergency. The event was 14 April UTC, still 13 April in the United States. NASA · Historical Sounds · Houston, we have had a problem [Archive & source ↗](https://www.nasa.gov/historical-sounds/) 1990-10-02 · Deutsch ### German unity: de Maizière Lothar de Maizière https://wiedervereinigung.bundesarchiv.de/sites/default/files/audio/rede-de-maizieres-am-vorabend-der-wiedervereinigung-b136ton-731a.mp3 Both addresses were broadcast on 2 October 1990, the eve of reunification on 3 October. Bundesarchiv · B 136 Ton 731 A [Archive & source ↗](https://wiedervereinigung.bundesarchiv.de/tonaufnahmen.html) 1990-10-02 · Deutsch ### German unity: Kohl Helmut Kohl https://wiedervereinigung.bundesarchiv.de/sites/default/files/audio/rede-kohls-am-vorabend-der-wiedervereinigung-b136ton-731b.mp3 Both addresses were broadcast on 2 October 1990, the eve of reunification on 3 October. Bundesarchiv · B 136 Ton 731 B [Archive & source ↗](https://wiedervereinigung.bundesarchiv.de/tonaufnahmen.html) If playback is unavailable, open the archive source. Audio provenance & editing Three archival excerpts with original animation: D-Day, China’s victory address and Apollo 11. Subtitles provide historical context, not a verbatim translation. The victory address was broadcast on 15 August 1945. The Commons copy is catalogued as 1 September; the date of that copy remains to be reconciled. 00:03–00:16.7 · Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library · U.S. government audio · 00:00–00:13.7 00:16.7–00:35.9 · Chiang Kai-shek · Wikimedia Commons · PD China / Taiwan / U.S. · 00:00–00:19.2 00:35.9–00:48.9 · Neil Armstrong · NASA Historical Sounds · 00:00–00:12.95 ## More voices in public archives These links open the archive’s own player or collection page. 1940-06-22 [INA · Charles de Gaulle · 22 June 1940 · FR ↗](https://www.ina.fr/ina-eclaire-actu/audio/ph710005402/appel-du-general-de-gaulle) 1943 / 1923 [EBC · Roquette-Pinto · Radio Sociedade · BR ↗](https://www.ebc.com.br/especiais/dia-mundial-do-radio) 1945 [NFSA · Ben Chifley · Victory in Europe · AU ↗](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/acting-pm-chifley-announces-end-second-world-war-europe) ## 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/)