On March 12, 1933, eight days after his inauguration, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first national radio address—or
“fireside chat”—broadcast directly from the White House.

Roosevelt began that first address simply: “I want to talk for a
few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.”

The banks would be reopening the next day, Roosevelt said, and
he thanked the public for their “fortitude and good temper”
during the “banking holiday.”

On March 9, 1996, the legendary cigar-chomping performer
George Burns died at his home in Beverly Hills, California,
just weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday.

1977

John and Nellie Reagan with their sons, Neil and Ronald.

 
During his WHO radio career, Reagan “announced” Chicago Cubs baseball games in the Des Moines studio by reading a pitch-by-pitch account off the wire as if he were actually at
the game.  He was so skillful that some listeners believed he actually was at the game!

Before his years of Hollywood stardom, and long before
Washington, Ronald Reagan was born in a small town in
northwestern Illinois.

Reagan made the sobering announcement that he had
Alzheimer’s disease, which would end his public career.

He died on June 5, 2004, at the age of 93.

Brace Beemer, center, with The Lone Ranger cast in the
WXYZ studios.

With the stirring notes of the William Tell Overture and a shout
of “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” "The Lone Ranger" debuts on Detroit’s
WXYZ radio station on January 31, 1933.

The creation of station-owner George Trendle and writer Fran
Striker, the “masked rider of the plains” became one of the most
popular and enduring western heroes of the 20th century.

Joined by his trusty steed, Silver, and Native American scout,
Tonto, the Lone Ranger battled western outlaws and rebel
Native Americans.

Fred Foy’s ‘Lone Ranger’ lead-in became the best-known introduction in radio history. He died of natural causes
in 2010 at age 89.

1967