The Act did not alleviate the problem, existing at the time, of interference between multiple users of the radio spectrum. In fact, by mandating increased use by shipping, it may well have exacerbated the problem. There was already an ongoing conflict between amateur radio operators and the U.S. Navy and private companies. Amateur radio enthusiasts regarded the new medium as a wide-open new frontier, free from government regulation and corporate influence. They fought against government and corporate encroachment in many ways, including by sending fake distress calls and obscene messages to naval radio stations, and forged naval commands sending navy boats on spurious missions. It was this, in addition to the public outcry after the sinking of the RMS Titanic and an international convention agreed in London, that caused Congress to replace the Wireless Ship Act with the Radio Act of 1912.

January 13-The first radio broadcast-Over two nights, the American pioneer Lee de Forest arranged what is claimed by some as the world's first radio broadcast to the public, a performance of Puccini's Tosca directly from the Metropolitan Opera to several listeners in New York. He used two microphones and a 500-watt transmitter.

Few possessed the wireless receivers to hear the transmission. Fewer still could make out what was going on, because the sound quality was so poor. Nevertheless, it was an early indication of radio's potential as an entertainment medium.

Eiffel Tower Radio Station, 1914. The radio operator is using a headset to listen to a message. In the background are measuring devices and receivers. On the table in the background is equipment related to ship radios. The Eiffel Tower, located in Paris, France, was built between 1887 and 1889, and reaches a height of 300 meters. Proposals to use it as a radio tower were first made in 1901, and a permanent long-distance radio base was established here in 1906.

War breaks out in Europe, and Amateur licenses are suspended in almost all foreign countries.

April 5-Inning-by inning scores of an exhibition baseball game between the New York Giants and Memphis Turtles, playing at the Red Elm Bottoms in Memphis, was sent from the Falls Building to the steamboat G. W. Robertson. Information was telephoned from the ball park to the Falls Building, and then sent by Victor H. Laughter’s voice transmitter to the Robertson.

August. 26-Radio Operator, Commercial Extra First Class, license number 1 issued to Elmo Neale Pickerill; qualified by demonstrating a skill of 32 wpm in Continental Morse Code and 35 wpm in American Morse.