Amid blatant sexism and regular denigration of her contributions to science, Marie Curie made history in her discovery of not one, but two elements, polonium and radium. She was also the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize, and remains the only woman in history to hold two Nobel Prizes.
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Russian Federation (now Poland) on November 7, 1867, the youngest of five siblings. Her parents were both educators who believed strongly in the education of their daughters as well as their son. Though Marie was a top student at her secondary school, women were not permitted to attend university. So she and her like-minded sister Bronia moved to France where they could pursue their studies. Marie enrolled at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris, where she subsisted primarily on buttered bread and tea, in order to afford her rent and tuition. Curie graduated with a degree in physics in 1893, and another in mathematics the following year.
Around the time of her graduation, Marie received a commission to do a study on different types of steel and their magnetic properties. Needing a lab in which to work, she was introduced to her future husband, Pierre Curie, who also had some space in his lab for her to work. The pair went on to make scientific history with the discovery of the radioactive element polonium, named after Marie’s homeland of Poland, in 1898. Five years later, in 1903, she and her husband were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, along with French physicist Henri Becquerel, for their work on radioactivity.
Tragedy struck in 1906, when Pierre was killed in a carriage accident. Though naturally devastated by his sudden death, Curie did not want his work or efforts wasted, thus she assumed his position at the Sorbonne, becoming its first female professor. Hundreds of people including students, artists, photographers and celebrities lined up hoping to attend her first lecture. Though she had already made remarkable contributions to science, she still was not seen as an equal by her male counterparts.
Continuing her work with dogged determination, Curie went on to win the Nobel Prize again in chemistry, in 1911, this time entirely of her own accord. Though rumors of an affair had spread earlier in the year, which marred her reputation and sought to undermine her work, winning the prestigious award for a second time served to dispel some of the more sexist notions against the female scientist.
With the arrival of World War I, Curie headed to the frontlines armed with x-ray equipment meant to locate fractures, bullets, and shrapnel in wounded men. The International Red Cross lauded her efforts and made her head of its radiological service. In this position she held training courses for medical orderlies and doctors in the new techniques.
After the war, Curie returned to her pursuit of better understanding radium. She travelled twice to the United States, once in 1921 and again in 1929, where she raised funds to procure radium for the purpose of establishing a radium research institute in Warsaw.
Unfortunately, the long years of radiation exposure took their toll on Marie, and she died in July of 1934. In 1995, both Marie and her husband were reburied at the Panthéon in Paris, where many of France’s greatest minds are interred. Her contributions to science, even in the face of blatant sexism, cannot be discounted. A true scientist and remarkable pioneer, Marie Curie has well earned recognition as a notable woman in history.
Malala Yousafzai is a young activist who campaigns loudly and effectively for the right of women to earn an education. Unperturbed by an assassination attempt on her life by the Taliban, the now 20 year old young woman speaks around the world on behalf of subjugated women and girls.
Malala Yousafzai was just 15 when she was struck in the head by a Taliban bullet. Targeted specifically for her orations against the Taliban’s actions banning women and girls from educational institutions, Malala has spoken vehemently that education is an inherent right of all people.
This strongly held belief is no doubt a credit to her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who established the very school in which she received much of her primary education. Ziauddin is a known anti-Taliban activist in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, which both call home (mostly). After the attempt on her life and subsequent life-saving surgeries, Malala now resides in Birmingham, England, for her safety; her father still lives back home in Pakistan with her mother and her two brothers.
Though Malala realizes the threat she faces from the Taliban, she courageously continues to defend the right of all people to earn an education. Through the Malala Fund, an organization she co-founded with her father, she seeks to support education for girls around the globe. The fund advocates for policy changes which will enable all girls to complete at least 12 years of formal schooling. The fund is operational in six countries and works with international and local partners to invest in innovative solutions to provide quality secondary education for all girls.
In October 2014, along with Indian children’s rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi, Malala was named a Nobel Peace Prize winner. At the tender age of 17, she became the youngest person to ever receive this accolade. Upon acceptance of the award she reaffirmed her sentiments, “This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change.”
This women’s history month, we honor Malala Yousafzai for her unparalleled courage and tenacity in the fight for the education of girls and women around the globe.
Sunday, April 25, 2021 marks the 93th year of the tradition of the Academy Awards. The event is presented by the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences where the best films of 2020 will be honored. The ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
Though the event was originally held to honor the year’s best in film, it has developed, over the years, into an opportunity for celebrities and designers to make a fashion statement. Read on as we explore a short history of the Oscars and some of the best (and worst) outfits in Oscar history.
The Early History of the Oscars
The very first ceremony was held May 16, 1929. The academy handed out its first awards during a dinner party for about 250 people in the Blossom Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Organized two years earlier in 1927, the academy was created to serve as a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and improvement of the film industry. It is the brainchild of Louis B. Mayer, former head of the MGM film studio.
The First Oscar Recipient: A Heated Debate
While the official first recipient of the legendary Oscar is Emil Jannings, a German actor who later produced propaganda for the Nazis, it is reputed that the real winner was in fact Rin Tin Tin, the rescued 11-year old German Shepherd. Rescued by a US airman in wartime France in 1918, Rin Tin Tin went on to become one of the most popular and profitable Hollywood stars. This occurred during a time in which silent movies were being overtaken by the increasingly popular “talkies,” or movies with sound.
Though Rin Tin Tin starred in a shocking 27 films, four of which were released in the same year as the first award ceremony, Louis B. Mayer determined that to allow a dog to receive the first award would serve only to undermine the integrity of the ceremony. So even though the pup received the most votes for best-actor, Emil Jannings has been recorded in the history books as its original recipient, after a second route of voting was held considering human contenders exclusively.
The BBC alleges a trend of controversy stating that while Walt Disney holds the record for most Oscars won, at a considerable 26 (as of 2016), yet Alfred Hitchcock has never been recognized outside of an honorary statuette. Whatever politics may or may not be at play, one thing is for certain: the Oscars continues to be on the of the greatest nights of celebrity fashion.
The Oscars: A Much Anticipated Fashion Event
For better or for worse, it remains an event in which its attendees often birth new fashion trends. It is also an event which has seen some of the most outrageous looks of the red carpet. Read on as we explore a visual history of some of the best and worst ensembles of the Oscars.
1929 – Janet Gaynor, at the very first Oscar ceremony, in an off-the-rack dress.
1938 – Luise Rainer, not expecting to win, wasn’t planning on attending the 1938 ceremony. She found out last minute and rushed to the awards in her nightgown, not even having enough time to apply makeup.
1939 – Bette Davis, with a feathered neckline.
1945 – Ingrid Bergman
1950 – Olivia de Havilland in Orry Kelly
1958 – Joanna Woodward in a homemade dress
1961 – Elizabeth Taylor in Christian Dior
1966 – Julie Christie in a homemade dress
1969 – Barbara Streisand in a more sheer outfit than she realized, by Arnold Scassi
1978 – Diane Keaton in Ruth Morley
1983 – Meryl Streep in Christian Leigh
1988 – Cher – in a strategically beaded ensemble by Bob Mackie
The development of radio in the late-19th-century revolutionized the ways in which people communicated both domestically and internationally. From military technology to pop-culture broadcasts, radio quickly ascended as the most effective means of official communications throughout the early 20th-century. But millions found that this new invention could also be used for casual recreation, creating what is known today as amateur radio.
While radio communication has been largely displaced by newer technologies, Amateur Radio (often called Ham Radio) remains a popular and useful hobby for operators worldwide. Here we’ve listed the top reasons everyone should be a Ham Radio operator in the 21st-century.
One of the main attractions of Amateur Radio is communication – by possessing a Ham Radio license, operators also possess a means to communicate for free with a large international community. Operators regularly tune into radio frequencies to get on “the net,” the colloquial term for a space where users gather to talk with one another. Though many nets exist for general communication, others are dedicated to more specific purposes, like discussing common interests, or relaying important messages.
After they’ve finished talking with one another, operators will frequently send each other a “QSL card,” a written confirmation of their communication over the airwaves. Many operators have collections of QSL cards they’ve received, often from international destinations. Amateur Radio operators have even tracked communication with astronauts from the International Space Station, which shows just how far the reach of radio communication can extend.
Being an amateur radio operator is a good way to provide community service.
While casual communication is one of the first things that attracts people to Ham Radio, operators also serve a larger purpose – in times of crisis, many modern technologies for communication fail. When this happens, radio channels are frequently used to communicate critical information to help those in need, and Ham operators will work to help with these communications. Operators also work with public service agencies when necessary, assisting in relief efforts during natural disasters or other crises. As such, Amateur Radio provides interested operators a meaningful way of volunteering.
Amateur radio offers a chance to learn new technological skills.
Even though Ham Radio emerged from the earliest radio technology, the hobby has modernly embraced the advancements of the digital age. Amateur Radio operators often experiment with electronics, and many Hams choose to communicate over high-frequency digital bands. Radios can also be combined with computers and other technologies to send data or text over a radio frequency. Ham Radio also offers a chance for operators to learn Morse code, which remains a popular skill within the community.
Ham Radio gives operators competitive experiences outside of the everyday.
From speaking with astronauts to learning Morse code, Ham Radio presents unique experiences to its operators. In addition to communication, public service, and learning opportunities, Amateur Radio has also taken on a more competitive tone since the late 20th-century, with the inception of “radiosport,” or Amateur Radio contesting. During these competitions, Ham operators (often associated with a station or Amateur Radio club) attempt to contact as many operators or stations as possible within a certain time frame. In the United States and Canada, one of the most well-known Amateur Radio competitions is Field Day, where Ham Radio stations demonstrate the versatility of radio technology, and attempt to contact as many stations as possible while operating in unique outdoor conditions. Similar competitions happen internationally too, giving the pastime a more competitive appeal.
Are you interested in becoming a Ham Radio operator? Check out the American Radio Relay League’s website for more information on the types of licenses available, where to take a licensing exam, and other information on how to get started in Amateur Radio!
For more information on radio and its influence on American culture, consider our various broadcasting titles to learn more about how radio has helped shape the culture of American cities.
In the age of instant information and music streaming, the radio remains one of the most popular means of communication to the American public. While we generally think of the radio as a source of music and the morning commute traffic, the history of radio broadcasting includes far more than just the American Top 40. Built on a century’s worth of electronics research, the radio as we know it today is a technological marvel few would have been able to predict at its inception in the late-19th-century.
But how did a technology primarily developed for use by military sailors become the most popular form of entertainment in the 20th century, and a tool for mass entertainment in the 21st? Here, we examine the radio from its beginnings as “Hertzian waves” to its inevitable place as a 20th-century center of American homes and culture.
Electromagnetic Beginnings
Decades before Detroit would be able to air the first radio news program, James Clerk Maxwell was lecturing about his theories of electromagnetism. Maxwell, who began work on the connections between electricity and magnetism as early as 1855, published a landmark essay in 1865 entitled “A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field.” Maxwell claimed his findings demonstrated that both electric and magnetic waves travelled within space at the speed of light, and that light itself was a type of wave that could circulate through a vacuum. His research also introduced various mathematical proofs to support his deductions, which would later fuel the research of physicists like Albert Einstein.
Reprinted from Bay Area Radio by John F. Schneider in association with the California Historical Radio Society and its bay Area Radio Museum courtesy of History San Jose (pg. 11, Arcadia Publishing, 2012).
However, Maxwell’s research focused mainly on the theory behind electromagnetism, rather than its more practical applications. It was not until 1886 that Maxwell’s theories could be practically proven, when physicist Heinrich Hertz discovered that released static electricity could move between two Riess spiral coils. This discovery allowed Hertz to create the earliest version of a radio transmitter, as the spark of electricity between the coils would emit radio waves along the radio frequency spectrum. These waves, which Hertz later proved could be received by simple antennas, quickly became known at the time as “Hertzian waves” – they would not become “radio waves” for another two decades after Hertz’s breakthrough discovery.
The Fathers of Radio: Guglielmo Marconi and Lee de Forest
Hertz and Maxwell’s various findings quickly excited the scientific community, leading researchers and inventors alike to scramble to build devices similar to Hertz’s transmitter. At the time of Hertz’s experiments, the only way to communicate messages quickly over distances required complex systems of wires, for which the United States had developed an intricate telegraphy system. But with the discovery of the Hertzian wave came a method by which messages could be sent and delivered wirelessly; these various transmitters all operated on Hertz basis of “spark” transmitting, producing intermittent pulses of radio waves.
The most successful of these transmitters came from an Italian inventor name Guglielmo Marconi, who created the first complete and commercially viable transmitter in 1894. His transmitter did not closely resemble the radio transmitters of today – not only was voice transmission impractical due to the broken, intermittent nature of spark radio, but it also required that users send their messages by way of Morse code. As a result of these limitations, Marconi marketed his invention not for entertainment broadcast, but for use in military and maritime endeavors. These industries were slow to accept his invention however, amid fears that it would not efficiently transmit crucial messages. Only after Marconi demonstrated that his transmitter was capable of sending a signal that could be received across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901 did his invention (and radio) begin to take off – soon after his demonstration, which required audio reception spanning 2,200 miles, his transmitters were used for both ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications.
Reprinted from New York City Radio by Alec Cumming and Peter Kanze (pg. 9, Arcadia Publishing, 2013).
Marconi was not the only inventor looking to capitalize on the commercial applications of radio however – American Lee de Forest competed alongside Marconi to produce a transmitter that could be utilized for maritime purposes, though to far less success. While these efforts largely failed, de Forest experiments led him to create a variation on the arc transmitter in 1906, which was originally created in Denmark in 1903. The arc transmitter, which produced a continuous radio wave transmission by converting direct electrical current into an alternative radio wave current, created a sparkles current that allowed de Forest to transmit voice across “amplitude modulated” audio transmissions, otherwise known as AM radio.
Despite this major development, de Forest’s early voice transmissions across the AM band struggled with low volume and a poor quality, leading the inventor to devise a solution that would improve his transmissions. This solution presented itself in de Forest’s later design of the Audion, a vacuum tube which proved successful at amplifying signals enough that voice could be heard fairly well across the airwaves.
Although the potential for this technology was wide, de Forest chose to market the invention as useful in maritime and military technology like his competitor Marconi. Ultimately, de Forest was the first to make a ship-to-shore radiotelephone (or voice) communication. The US Navy quickly adopted de Forest’s technology aboard their ships for voice communications, but the Audion was not widely used in other applications at the time. Although its original scope was limited, the Audion provided the basis for later developments of the triode, an improved vacuum tube that would lead to the first commercial radio broadcasts.
The novelty of radio broadcasting quickly drew hundreds to the medium. Once Marconi and de Forest’s improved audio technology was introduced in 1906, Amateur Radio operators (who had previously experimented with Hertz’s early radio discoveries and Marconi’s spark transmitters) quickly took to transmitting on the air. The success of early radio was immediately apparent – by 1909 there were 89 registered Amateur Radio stations across the United States and Canada, and the first Amateur Radio club (known then as the Junior Wireless Club) had been formed.
These early broadcasters were completely unregulated by the government, however – due to how new radio was, many did not see the necessity in restricting which groups could speak on various channels. Amateur Radio operators frequently mingled then with government and maritime transmissions alike, often obscuring important messages as a result. Many of these interferences were unintentional, but several younger operators would maliciously interfere with frequencies, making it difficult for official messages to reach their destination.
These unregulated practices were allowed to continue for several years until the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. After investigating how the sinking of the ship occurred, it was discovered that in addition to faulty communications from the ship to nearby vessels, amateur transmissions had interfered with the information passed from ship-to-shore about the disaster. As a result, initial reports suggested all passengers had survived, when in reality only 745 of the estimated 2,222 on board were rescued. This was quickly proven to be false, and only served to further the anger surrounding the disaster.
The US government was quick to respond in an attempt to avoid similar disasters by passing the Radio Act of 1912, which not only required all radio operators (amateur or not) to hold a license, but also limited amateur transmissions to frequencies of 200 meters or shorter. These shorter frequencies were widely regarded as less desirable as they restricted how far messages could reach, and amateur transmissions nearly ceased altogether in the wake of the law.
While the limitations placed on amateur wavelengths hurt radio’s recreational practice, it also opened up the door for more local (and personalized) commercial transmissions. While some radio programs had begun as early as 1906, they did not become common until after the passage of the Radio Act and World War I, during which a ban on all non-military radio transmissions was placed. This ban was lifted following the end of the war in 1918, and by 1920 the first radio news broadcast found its way onto the air under the call sign 8MK. The call sign, operated by a small news station in Detroit, was registered as an amateur call sign – a practice that quickly became common for commercial radio stations around the country, as amateur radio gave way to the new local commercial broadcasts.
The Golden Age of Radio
The practice of commercial radio using amateur call signs continued until the government released the Radio Act of 1927, which, among other things, established the Federal Radio Commission (a predecessor to the FCC), and created commercial call signs under a new federal license. Many stations were quick to obtain such licenses, the first being given to Pittsburgh station 8XK, which became the historic KDKA. KDKA was known as a pioneer of commercial radio broadcasting, being not only the first station to receive a federal license, but also the first to introduce programming for children, concert band broadcasts, and scheduled church services.
The near-instant success of KDKA encouraged radio stations across the country to begin their own regularly scheduled programming, and by 1927 both the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) had been established for regular broadcast. Early commercial radio through these systems focused on providing news with small bits of entertainment to audiences, but that changed with the formation of the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) in 1934. MBS had been created by a variety of independent radio stations coming together to exchange syndicated radio programs, and was responsible for the success of major radio dramas throughout the 1930s and 40s like The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman. As a result, radio became one of the main sources of entertainment prior to the invention of television following World War II.
Radio also served as one of the main channels of official communications from the government to the people. Starting in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt began a series of what are today known as the “fireside chats,” during which he updated the American people on issues of public concern, including the recession, his New Deal proposals, and the status of World War II. These addresses set a precedent for future presidents, as every successor to FDR has provided a periodic update to the American public – first by radio, and later by television. By the early 1950s, radio had become the most popular medium for entertainment and news, and its immense popularity had led to the invention of transportable pocket radios.
Television, the Late-20th-Century, and Radio Today
With the creation of television in the mid-to-late 1950s, radio began to suffer as an entertainment medium, as more and more listeners moved on to television for their amusement. TV, which was initially regarded as “radio with pictures,” used the technology of radio waves to transmit a picture along with its audio. Many traditional radio programs had ceased by 1960 as a result, and radio stations moved to producing programs like the Top 40 countdown, focusing on broadcasting news headlines alongside popular music.
Despite radio’s decreasing popularity in entertainment, it continued to hold a formidable place throughout the late-20th-century. By the late 1960s, radio had evolved beyond basic AM and FM bands to digital radio, which converted sound into a series of digits (hence digital), rather than the traditional electrical signals. Digital radio was used to develop technologies like the US long-distance telephone network, and was later adopted by broadcasting in the late 1990s to create satellite radio services like Sirius and XM. Radio was also instrumental in the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS) via space satellites, and radio navigation systems like the LORAN system of the 1970s.
Reprinted from New York City Radio by Alex Cumming and Peter Kanze courtesy of Library of American Broadcasting (pg. 112, Arcadia Publishing, 2013).
Today, AM and FM (also known as terrestrial) radio remains a popular means of entertainment for the American public, with nearly half of all Americans discovering new music through traditional terrestrial radio. Despite the popularity of music-streaming services such as Spotify, radio continues to hold a strong presence within American culture, with a legacy that can be felt throughout all of modern technology.
Do you want to learn more about the Golden Age of radio, or have an interest in broadcasting? Explore our various titles about radio in American cities.
If you are on a perpetual quest for the very best homemade ravioli and cannoli, there’s a good chance you’ve wound up in Little Italy, La Piccola Italia, a time or two. This designation exists in many cities across the United States. It signifies the pocket of a town where Italian immigrants flocked between the years of 1800 and 1924, when more than four million Italians relocated to America.
Like most diasporas, the Italian immigration was born out of necessity. Southern Italians fled to escape dire poverty, and the Risorgimento — the movement for Italian unification and independence — spurred wars that drove out the Northerners.
Clusters of immigrants settled together here in part because of language barriers and familiarity, and often because it was where they had family or friends who had already immigrated. But these ethnic enclaves still serve as important cultural centers today, even several generations deep.
Today, Italians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. And thanks to Little Italys across the country, they have one of the best-preserved cultures out of all the major ancestral identifiers. Besides the famed Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan, there are many significant Little Italy communities throughout the U.S. Here are a few noteworthy examples.
New York: Manhattan
Since it served as the backdrop to films like “The Godfather” and “Donnie Brasco,” Manhattan’s Little Italy is indeed one of the best-known. It runs for only three blocks along Mulberry Street, a paltry size for a neighborhood that used to encompass parts of the Lower East Side, SoHo and Chinatown. One of the best examples of the neighborhood’s deeply rooted Italian traditions is the annual Feast of San Gennaro festival, which follows the Naples tradition of celebrating Saint Januarius, the patron saint of Naples.
New York: The Bronx
Even the most inclusive New Yorkers sometimes forget that there’s an equally vibrant Italian neighborhood in The Bronx. Along Arthur Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood, you’ll find many old-school Italian restaurants and cultural centers. Like its downtown counterpart, the Bronx’s version also has some Hollywood street cred. Scenes from “The Sopranos” were shot here, and Italian-American film director Martin Scorsese hails from nearby.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles’ Little Italy is unique in that it doesn’t actually exist anymore. In fact, though the city has the fifth-largest Italian population, there’s little left to show for it. L.A. once had a bustling Italian neighborhood along Olvera Street and North Main, which is now closely linked to Los Angeles’ Mexican population. But you can still find some remnants of that era today, as it is home to the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles.
San Diego
It seems unlikely, but San Diego’s Little Italy is in fact the largest Little Italy in the United States. The hilly neighborhood is built around commercial India Street, where visitors and locals will find plenty of Italian restaurants, bakeries and bars.
For the better part of the 20th century, the Italian inhabitants of this Southern California Little Italy led a massive tuna empire, leading to San Diego’s nickname as the “tuna capital” of the western U.S. Once a humble fishing village, it is now a popular urban neighborhood with plenty of Italian pride.
Cleveland
Unsurprisingly, the Italian influx to Cleveland came by way of New York. Many of the relocated Italians followed master artisan Giuseppe Carabelli, who relocated to Cleveland from New York to open a sculpting and masonry business. Carabelli’s many employees and workers helped to forge Cleveland’s place as a hotbed for stone work.
Today, Cleveland’s Italian neighborhood centers around the area where Carabelli set up his factory, atop a hill on Mayfield Road. The nearby Holy Rosary Church and plenty of Italian eateries still signify its ethnic roots.
Many More to Discover
These are just some of the country’s most significant and well-known Italian-American neighborhoods, but several cities have their own versions that still thrive in many parts of the country. In fact, almost every state has some historically Italian area. These neighborhoods serve as important reminders of the American Dream, and they’re not a bad place to pick up some homemade pasta or cannoli, either!
