The 120th anniversary of the invention of radio by A. S. Popov: from telegraph apparatus to future communications technologies

Aleksandr Stepanovich Popov was born in the North Urals on March 16, 1859. He was the son of a village priest. For some years he had been studying at the seminary in Perm and then went to the University of St. Petersburg. In his student days he worked as a mechanic at one of the first electric power plants in St. Petersburg which was producing electric lights for Nevsky prospect. After graduating from the University in 1882, A.S. Popov remained there as a post-graduate at the Physics Department. A year later he became a lecturer in Physics and Electrical Engineering in Kronstadt. By this time he had already won recognition among specialists as an authority in this field. In 1894 Aleksandr Popov, Russian radio pioneer built his first practical radio receiver, which contained improvements to the coherer tube.