Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (American Marconi)
From Kook Science
American Marconi | |
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Formation | 1899 |
Dissolution | 1919 |
Headquarters | New York City, New York |
Parent org. | Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company |
The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, also known simply as American Marconi, was the American subsidiary of British-owned Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company (later renamed Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company), being first incorporated in 1899 as holder of the U.S. and Cuban rights to the Marconi wireless telegraphy patents, and later expanding its U.S. interests with the takeover of the United Wireless Telegraph Company. During the First World War, the United States federal government seized control of national radio communications, and, at the conclusion of the war, declined to cede control back to the original owners, pressuring them to surrender their radio assets to American ownership. The sale of American Marconi's assets was accomplished in 1919 by General Electric (GE), which transferred them to a patent trust called the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), itself to be re-incorporated as a private concern by 1932.