Happy National Loomis Day! Each year on May 30, today recognizes the man who received the patent for wireless telegraphy in July 1872.
Born in New York, American dentist and inventor Mahlon Loomis received US patent number 129,971 titled “An Improvement in Telegraphing” on wireless telegraphy.
This beat Italian inventor and electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi’s United Kingdom patent by nearly twenty-five years.
Born on July 21, 1826, Loomis was also the inventor of artificial teeth and one of the earliest inventors of wireless communication.
Years later, Loomis' request for a government appropriation had a precedent in an 1843 congressional grant of $30,000 ($884,100 today) to American inventor and painter Samuel Morse.
This was for the construction of an experimental wire telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, Maryland.
Years later, Loomis' request for a government appropriation had a precedent in an 1843 congressional grant of $30,000 ($884,100 today) to American inventor and painter Samuel Morse.
This was for the construction of an experimental wire telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, Maryland.
Leading up to his patent, Loomis conducted many experiments in electricity using kites flying miles apart in the mountains of Virginia.
Then, in 1868 before several scientists and U.S. Congressmen, he demonstrated his wireless telegraphic system.
While he couldn’t explain how he was able to produce the transmission, he appealed to U.S. Congress for an appropriation to incorporate the Loomis Aerial Telegraph Company for research.
It was American politician and United States Senator from Massachusetts Charles Sumner of whom introduced the bill. on May 30, 1872, the U.S. Committee on Commerce reported poorly on the measure.
In 1873, and stripped of its appropriations, it eventually passed strictly as a bill of incorporation.
Loomis passed in Terra Alta, West Virginia on October 13, 1886. He was 60.
Today, TV, radio, even your Wi-Fi signal being sent through wireless means, on technology descended from a man standing on a mountaintop with a kite and a bit of wire for string.
HOW TO OBSERVE
There are many ways to celebrate. Learn more about Mahlon Loomis or the amazing history of the radio. Discover historic places and explore their significance to long-distance communication.
While you tune into your favorite radio station or recall using a walkie talkie, consider the long-range history.
Use #LoomisDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
Richard Birch of Puns Corp founded National Loomis Day.
#LoomisDay
@congressdotgov
@nichecinema
