Before screens, the whole world fit inside a wooden box with a glowing dial. Fourteen questions from the age of the airwaves — cover the answers, lock in your guesses, and keep score at home, as they used to say.

What was the first radio signal to cross the Atlantic?

The letter 'S' in Morse code — three faint dots that Marconi picked up in Newfoundland in 1901, sent from Cornwall, England.

What did the U.S. Supreme Court do to Marconi's legacy in 1943?

Invalidated his key American radio patent, citing the earlier work of Nikola Tesla and other inventors — the paperwork rematch Tesla never lived to see.

What is widely credited as the first commercial radio broadcast?

KDKA Pittsburgh, November 2, 1920 — reading out the Harding–Cox presidential election returns before most newspapers could print them.

Where does the word 'broadcast' come from?

Farming — it originally meant scattering seed widely by hand. Radio borrowed it and never gave it back.

What did the first radio commercial sell?

Apartments in Queens — a ten-minute pitch on New York's WEAF in 1922, for about $50.

Did the 1938 'War of the Worlds' broadcast really cause nationwide panic?

Mostly no — the mass hysteria was largely a myth inflated by newspapers eager to paint their new rival, radio, as dangerous.

Was the famous 'Oh, the humanity!' Hindenburg report broadcast live?

No — Herbert Morrison's account was recorded to disc and aired the next day, and a recorder speed error made his voice sound higher and more frantic than it really was.

How many 'fireside chats' did Franklin Roosevelt actually deliver?

Only about 30 across 12 years — rare enough that each one stopped the country in its tracks.

Why can you hear distant AM stations at night?

The ionosphere — after dark it reflects AM signals back to Earth, letting them skip for hundreds of miles, which is why many stations must cut power at sunset.

What is America's longest-running radio show?

The Grand Ole Opry — broadcasting country music from Nashville since 1925 and still going.

What were 'border blasters'?

Mexican stations just across the Rio Grande running transmitters of 250,000 watts — five times the U.S. limit — and blanketing most of the continent.

What 1954 gadget put music in a teenager's pocket for the first time?

The Regency TR-1, the first transistor radio — $49.95, and a quiet co-conspirator in the rise of rock and roll.

What does BBC Radio 1 owe its existence to?

Pirates — offshore ships like Radio Caroline beamed pop into Britain until the BBC surrendered in 1967, launched Radio 1, and hired the pirate DJs.

Where are the very first radio broadcasts now?

More than 100 light-years away — traveling outward at the speed of light, growing fainter but never quite gone.

Somewhere past a hundred light-years out, the 1920s are still technically on the air. Score twelve or better and you've earned the right to spin the dial slowly, like you know what you're listening for.