Given that we are Canadian and therefore don't particularly exalt our heroic countrymen (to our shame!) its likely that almost nobody has heard of one Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, father of modern broadcasting. Marconi? Feh...

On October 6th we celebrate the 139th anniversary of Fessenden's birth in Knowlton, Quebec. Here is a biography of his astonishing career:

http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/fessenden.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Fessenden

Don't forget to raise a glass to all that he accomplished. Don't forget to tell other Canadians about him.

Very impressive. My background is RF and Microwave design and I've never heard of him before this. Marconi I knew.

Here's to a great Canadian.

Two links on the web today about Canadian Reginald Fessenden's first radio broadcast on Dec. 24, 1906:

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-1535-10258-11/on_this_day/science_technology/twt

http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/06/12/23/1327237.shtml

Oddly enough, SIRIUS Radio honoured Fessenden just the other day. Like the announcer said, I too thought Marconi was the "inventor" of radio. He credited Fessenden with the "discovery" of the transmission of voice, hence, music. He referred to Fessenden as the first radio dj.:p

Shelagh Rogers had the story a few months back on "Sounds Like Canada" on CBC Radio 1 about Reginald Fessenden being inducted into the Canadian Telecommunications Hall of Fame. It was nice to hear him get further credit.

http://www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/host.html

http://www.telecomhall.ca/tour/inventors/rfessenden/index.htm

Marconi did the work in making wireless work (him "inventing" it could be debateable), and commercialising it.

Fessenden invented (or at least worked with westinghouse to create it) sound transmission, and ergo broadcasting.

DeForest's work basically invented broadcasting, and Sarnoff commercialsed that with the RCA company (whom worked with Marconi in the past).

I don't know if you meant it but it looks like you're shortchanging Fessenden when you mention Westinghouse, with whom he was employed at one point.

Fessenden invented Amplitude Modulation radio, and invented the heterodyne receiver, amongst many other things. His work stands on its own. The links in the first post tell all about his achievements.

It's too bad more noteworthy Canadians go unnoticed in our history. Constantly overshadowed by famous Americans. Not to downplay our southern cousin's many achievements, just seems like we're the little guys in the corner who never get noticed sometimes.