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Why the radio is one of history's most important inventions
Actually this article about physical radios and a New York museum exhibit isn't all that compelling. But there's a gallery of 19 different classic and unusual radios that prompted me to post the link here. If you're a fan of not only of the medium but the thing you listened to it on, then you'll love the pics.
Why the radio is one of history's most important inventions
By the way, there IS a museum of radio in Guelph, if you're ever over that way. 
- jon
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Re: Why the radio is one of history's most important inventions
Well, there is some truth to the matter that getting the Radio Receiver part of the whole Radio "package" working properly was the biggest challenge. Before that, as transmitters got to the million watt level, there were concerns that that much power would actually damage one or more of the electromagnetic layers of the ionosphere.
The key piece was the vacuum tube electronic oscillator, invented in 1913, which made Reginald Fessenden's 1901 invention of the heterodyne receiver an inexpensive mass production consumer product. Before that, receivers were just too insensitive to pick up even the powerful signals at any distance.