History of the Telegraph

In March 1912, in the United States, police arrested a Frenchman, Lee de Forest, along with accomplices, accusing them of fraud. The case turned out to be sensational, because the main defendant is a doctor of physics, his colleagues are people with higher education and they all worked in a rapidly developing field - radio engineering. As was evident from the indictment, Lee de Forest repeatedly stated on the pages of the press that in the next few years it would be possible to transfer a human voice across the Atlantic Ocean( this, in general, was an absurdity).Based on this statement, the chief defendant persuaded gullible people to buy shares of his company. No serious equipment was available for the doctor of physics, there was only one strange device, similar to a lamp and, of course, completely unsuitable for anything.

The loudspeaker. Mid-twentieth century.

44 years have passed, and the same Lee de Forest received for the invention of this strange device the highest award of France - the Order of the Legion of Honor. During the award ceremony, one of the most distinguished scientists of our time - Louis Broil said: "Specialists of all fields of science and technology express their admiration to M. de Forest for his ingenious invention."In this way, "a strange device similar to a lamp" was evaluated.

What did the doctor of physics, accused of fraud, invent? A wonderful lamp that became the heart of every radio receiver - a triode - a lamp with three electrodes, which made it possible to amplify in the receiver very weak signals of powerful radio stations. Before that, too, it was possible to broadcast speech and music on the radio, but at a distance of no more than 40 kilometers. But to achieve this, it was first necessary to invent another wonderful lamp - with two electrodes - a diode. This was done by John Fleming. While there was no diode, the radio remained a wireless telegraph. The transmission of a human voice or any other sounds was still a difficult problem, and only points and dashes, dashes and dots were flying. But the most important thing was done - the radio existed.

On May 7, 1895, the teacher of the Technical School of the Maritime Department in Kronstadt Alexander Stepanovich Popov made a report on his invention at a meeting of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society in St. Petersburg. The report was short. In conclusion, Popov said: "The first public demonstration of my apparatus in action will take place. In front of you is a receiver of Hertz beams, which is connected to a telegraph unit so that you can better receive the signals that my assistant Rybkin will send. He is with the transmitter in a chemical laboratory, located 250 meters from here. A few minutes later, the telegraph started working, and the leading session, Professor Petrushevsky, brought out on the blackboard the text of the first telegram received by telegraph without wires: "Henry Hertz."This day is considered the birthday of the radio. And the text of the telegram was chosen not by chance. This is a tribute to the German scientist, who proved the existence of electromagnetic waves. The scientist stood a step away from the invention of radio, but did not really believe in the possibility of practical use of his discovery. Moreover, when a Munich engineer named Huber suggested in 1899 that Hertz apply the electromagnetic waves he opened for a wireless telegraph, he rejected the project and even convinced Huber that it was impossible.

AS Popov designed the device, which, he said, "replaced the missing electromagnetic senses."And then the story repeated, which already happened more than once in the world of science and technology: in June of the same year the Italian inventor Luglielmo Marconi received in England a patent for the same invention. He created a large joint-stock company with a large capital, as he did not have the means to improve the equipment. Marconi was known not only as a capable inventor, but also as a talented diplomat in life. So, since his radio installation was being built in England and on British money, the first message, of course, was to be a greeting to the English king. But the crafty Marconi wanted to send the first telegram to the King of Italy. The English staff of the radio station vigorously protested, but the Italian reassured them: "It's much further from Rome to us than to London, and even if we send the first telegram to Rome, then the second one will come to London earlier."The British agreed, while missing the "trifle" - the speed of propagation of radio waves is so great that there is practically no difference.

Thus, Marconi could not complain about the lack of funds and attention from large institutions and influential persons, while Popov at this time was experiencing serious financial difficulties. He had to apply for a loan to the Maritime Department, asking 1000 rubles for the continuation of the work. But the minister rejected his petition: "Do not throw money at such nonsense."The minister became "generous" only after a major misfortune occurred. In November 1899 a huge battleship "General-Admiral Apraksin" left Kronstadt for round-the-world voyage. In the newspapers he was called "a miracle of technology."But the next day the battleship lay with its ripped belly on the rocks off the island of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland."The miracle of technology" was urgently needed to be rescued, but for this it was necessary to establish communication with the ship that was 50 kilometers from the city of Kotka. That's when the minister assigned Popov not a thousand rubles, but 10 times more, calculating that laying a telegraph cable from Kronstadt to the island of Hogland would cost several times more. The world's first radio telegraph line was ready by February 1, 1900, and it became a reality to establish contact with the battleship. But then the head of the rescue expedition, Captain Zalewski, suddenly stopped work. The thing is that in 10 days the event was, in his opinion, more important than saving a huge battleship with a large crew - the birthday of the Grand Duchess. Zalevsky ordered the first radio telegram to be the congratulation of the august birthday. It was the 10th of February. Rybkin was already ready to send a congratulatory telegram, but the events were ordered against the will of the sycophant. In the headphones there was a crackling of signals: "Popov transfers. The captain of the icebreaker Ermak. Near the Lavansaari, the ice floe broke with the fishermen. Immediately give help. "Alexander Stepanovich risked to incur the wrath of the royal people. The Grand Duchess did not receive a telegram before everyone else, but the help came on time.

In the early days of Soviet power, the message "To the citizens of Russia" was transmitted via the Morse alphabet to the radio, as well as decrees on land, on peace, on the creation of the Soviet government. And on September 15, 1922, the newspaper Izvestia published an advertisement: "To everyone. Everyone. Everyone. Tune in to a wave of 3000 meters and listen. .. On Sunday, September 17, at 3 pm on maternity time, the first radio concert will take place. The program - Russian music ».The concert was broadcast from the radio center, which was on Voznesenskaya Street( now Radio Street).60 cities then took the capital, and out of 35 they informed Moscow that they had heard it well. Two months later - in November 1922 radio broadcasting began in England, in December of the same year - in France, and by the end of October 1923 - in Germany. But the Central Radio Telephone Station of the People's Commissariat remained the most powerful in Europe.

In August 1924 the first issue of the magazine "Radio Amateurs" was published. On the last page, a letter was sent to the editors, in which it was proposed to legalize the broadcasts of music, lectures, etc., to legalize the term "broadcasting".The editorial staff said: "At one time, the editors of the journal" Technique of Communication "received letters with proposals to replace the word" broadcasting "with one of the following terms:" sound "," spark "," radiometer "and" broadcasting ".If in the near future there will be no substantial objections from readers, the editors will consider the term "broadcasting" legalized on the pages of our magazine. "Probably, there was no objection, and the term not only remained on the pages of the journal, but also survived to this day.

In 1927, the construction of the "miracle on Shabolovka" ended - it was called first abroad, and then we had a radio tower. Its creator, an outstanding Soviet scientist and engineer Vladimir G. Shukhov, day and night did not leave the construction site. There were no cranes, experienced assemblers, high-altitude, there was not enough profile iron. At a special meeting of the Council of People's Commissars, the problems of finding materials were discussed. But all the difficulties were overcome, and the elegant openwork tower for a long time became a symbol of the first main radio station, and then the television center of our country.

One joker published an ad in the New York newspaper: "I sell the legacy of an old radio receiver that was personally owned by Christopher Columbus, which I confirm with documents."Twenty-eight people expressed a desire to buy this "historical relic."And it's not just ignorance of the history of science and technology. Today radios are available in every home. Without them it is impossible to imagine the life of modern man, and it seems that they exist forever.

When we listen to the radio on your favorite music, weather report or "The latest news", let's not forget that this wonderful invention saved the lives of thousands of sailors. On the radio, people can be warned against an impending hurricane, earthquake, fire or flood. There are thousands of other cases where the immediate information received by the radio has saved human life.

Do you know?

When and by whom was the first transistor created?

In 1948, American scientists J. Bardeen, W. Brattein and W. Shockley.