May 7 - Radio Day

The day of May 7 entered the history of world science and technology as the birthday of radio. It was on this day in 1895 at a meeting of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society that the Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov made a presentation and demonstration of the world's first radio receiver he had created, making the first radio communication session.

In July 1897, Popov, in a letter to the Novoye Vremya newspaper, notes: "The merit of discovering the phenomena that served Marconi belongs to Hertz and Branly, then there is a whole series of applications started by Minchin, Lodge and many after them, including me, and Marconi was the first to have the courage to take a practical stand…"

The first irregular broadcasts in Russia were conducted from 1919 from the Nizhny Novgorod radio laboratory, and from 1920 from experimental broadcasting stations in Moscow and Kazan.

The formation and popularization of radio broadcasting in the country in the 1920s was facilitated by the mass amateur radio movement, which began to develop after the opening of the Comintern radio station in Moscow in 1922. Regular radio broadcasting began on November 23, 1924, when the first issue of the radio newspaper was broadcast.

Since 1929, regular foreign broadcasting began from Moscow - broadcasting radio programs to foreign countries.

The invention of radio marked the beginning of the development of information technology. It became the basis for the creation of navigation systems, mobile communications, wireless data exchange networks and the Internet.

Radio Day became an official annual state holiday in 1945, on the fiftieth anniversary of the invention of radio, when, given the role of radio in the cultural and political life of society and in the defense of the country, the government of the USSR adopted a corresponding resolution. Therefore, today this date is a holiday for workers in all branches of communications.

Radio Day can be safely called a professional holiday for television, radio broadcasters, postal workers, signalmen, shortwave radio amateurs. All those who promptly inform us about the most important events taking place in the country and the world are united on radio waves by human deeds, thoughts and souls.

In accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 1, 1980 "On holidays and memorable days", May 7 was included in the list of holidays as "Radio Day, a holiday for workers in all branches of communications."

Photo: Portrait of the radio inventor A.S. Popova, artist Troshin S.N.