Historic Firsts
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Title |
Historic Firsts |
Subject |
History |
Transcript |
Historic Firsts It was on March 10, 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell said the first words by telephone -----"Watson, come here, I want you." Sixteen years later, in 1892, Corpus Christi got its first phone system, owned by Dr. Alfred Heaney, whose number was 2. In those years, an operator could gossip about things she overheard, but she'd be fired for flirting on the line. The first automobile here was driven by George Blucher, in 1901. After he met Ransom Olds, he bought an Oldsmobile and had it shipped here in crates. The car had a tiller instead of a steering wheel. The city's first electric streetcars began running on March 28, 1910. Rails were laid on unpaved streets, with copper wires overhead. Four cars were in operation and the fare was five cents. Eight years after the Wright brothers made money at Kitty Hawk, their company gave demonstration flights over North Beach, on July 3 and 4th, 1911. It cost 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children to see the breathtaking thrill of flight. The first radio station went on the air here on April 26, 1929. KGFI ----- which someone said stood for KOME GET FISH IMMEDIATELY ------ had no transmitting tower, just wires strung from the top of the Nixon building to the Plaza Hotel. Announcer F. R. Wilson was known as" Dr. Static ". Before Joe Gazin arrived, the city's first TV station ----KVDO ---- went on the air on June 20, 1954. It had no coaxial link to the three major networks ----- NBC, CBS and Dumont. The first program shown was an interview with Buc Days officials. Viewers likely watched the snowy pictures on a seven-inch set that cost $300. Programs shown here ran a week late. It would be another year before the city saw its first live telecast ---- a football game between Duke and North Carolina. In those days, most Corpus Christians were listening to their radios, not watching television. Murphy Givens: KEDT Radio Scripts |
Author |
Murphy Givens |
Publisher |
KEDT Radio |
Date |
March 14, 2003 |
Type |
Sound Recording |
Format |
WMA; Length 2 min. 40 sec. |
Language |
English |
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