Who Invented Radio? Reginald Fessenden, that's who!

The Inventions of Reginald Fessenden Patents from electronics to teabags

Like many technologists over time, Reginald Fessenden suffered considerable rebuff and even plagiarism of his advancements. In his later years, he wrote

"In my lifetime, I developed over a hundred patentable inventions including the electric gyroscope, the heterodyne, and a depth finder. I built the first power generating station at Niagara Falls and I invented radio, sending the first wireless voice message in the world on Dec. 23, 1900.

"But despite all my hard work, I lived most of my life near poverty. I fought years of court battles before seeing even a penny from my greatest inventions. And worst of all, I was ridiculed by journalists, businessmen, and even other scientists, for believing that voice could ever be transmitted without using wires. But by the time death was near, not only was I wealthy from my patents, and all of those people who had laughed at my ideas were twisting the dials on their newly bought radios to hear the latest weather and news."

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*Reginald Aubrey Fessenden - Inventor* Photo: Rotary GapTtransmitte, Brant Rock, 1906.
The Inventions of Reginald Fessenden Patents from electronics to teabags Like many technologists over time, Reginald Fessenden suffered considerable rebuff and even plagiarism of his advancements. In his later years, he wrote "In my lifetime, I developed over a hundred patentable inventions including the electric gyroscope, the heterodyne, and a depth finder. I built the first power generating station at Niagara Falls and I invented radio, sending the first wireless voice message in the world on Dec. 23, 1900. "But despite all my hard work, I lived most of my life near poverty. I fought years of court battles before seeing even a penny from my greatest inventions. And worst of all, I was ridiculed by journalists, businessmen, and even other scientists, for believing that voice could ever be transmitted without using wires. But by the time death was near, not only was I wealthy from my patents, and all of those people who had laughed at my ideas were twisting the dials on their newly bought radios to hear the latest weather and news." Back to Fessenden Homepage				* U.S. Patent , "Induction Coil for X-ray Apparatus" – March, 1900 * U.S. Patent , "X-ray Apparatus" – May, 1900 * U.S. Patent , "Induction-coil" – July, 1900 * U.S. Patent , "Wireless Signaling" (heterodyne principle) – August, 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Apparatus for Wireless Telegraphy" (compressed air spark gap transmitter) – August, 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Wireless Signaling", August, 1902 (transmit-receive switch) * U.S. Patent , "Current Actuated Wave Responsive Device" ("barretter" detector) – August, 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Signaling by Electromagnetic Waves" – issued August 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Signaling by Electromagnetic Waves" (ground plane) – issued August 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Apparatus for Signaling by Electromagnetic Waves" (voice modulation of 50 kHz alternator – continuous wave transmitter) – August, 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Selective Signaling by Electromagnetic Waves" (multiplex transmission and reception) – December, 1902 * U.S. Patent , "Receiver for Electromagnetic Waves" – May, 1903 * U.S. Patent , "Receiver for Signaling" – May, 1903 * U.S. Patent , "Signaling by Electromagnetic Waves" – May, 1903 * U.S. Patent , "Signaling by Electromagnetic Waves" – May, 1903 * U.S. Patent , "Receiver for Electromagnetic Waves" (improved "barretter" -- actually electrolytic detector) – May, 1903 * U.S. Patent , "Receiver for Electromagnetic Waves" (sealed/pressurized electrolytic detector) – December, 1904 * U.S. Patent , "Wireless Telegraphy" (antenna tuning) – 1st February 1910 * U.S. Patent , "Improvements in Wireless Telegraphy" – 1st November 1910 * U.S. Patent , "Wireless Telegraphy" (antenna tuning)– issued April 1913 * U.S. Patent , "Signaling by Sound and Other Longitudinal Elastic Impulses" – September, 1914 * U.S. Patent , "Improvements in Wireless Telegraphy" – 20th July 1915 * U.S. Patent , "Infusor" (for making tea) – March, 1926 * U.S. Patent "Receiver for Electromagnetic Waves" – duplicate of 727331 reissued May, 1903 For PDF versions, visit Fessenden's Inventions For even more, visit the Old Radio Site