This Day in History: 1910-01-13

First public radio broadcast takes place on this day in 1910.  The broadcast features a live performance of the operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci  from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Although this was an early instance of broadcasting, radio stayed mostly dormant due to technology problems and the disruption of World War I. It took off in the late 1920s.  fThe initial idea for radio broadcasting was that high culture (such as opera) could expand the educations of  average Americans. But by the 1930s, with the proliferation of radio soap operas,  it was clear that Americans wanted entertainment, not education.