12 Lightning-Inspired Inventions That Changed Human History

LumenHarbor Updated: 2025-07-15

4. The Radio: Harnessing Electromagnetic Waves

The study of electromagnetic waves, a phenomena intimately connected to lightning, had a major impact on the late 19th century development of the radio. Inspired by the thought that knowledge could be broadcast across the air, much as the electric charge in a lightning bolt, scientists including Heinrich Hertz, who demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves, and Guglielmo Marconi, who invented the first viable radio transmission system, were motivated.
Mass communication was transformed by radio technology, which also made it possible for entertainment to be rapidly shared concurrently with great audiences. It changed journalism by allowing real-time news broadcasts, was crucial in emergency communications, and evolved into the main source of entertainment in homes all around.
Radio proved to be a priceless instrument for governments to interact with their people and for resistance organisations to disseminate information during times of war and disaster. It profoundly affected culture as well, shaping advertising, music, and narrative. Modern wireless communication networks and television broadcasting sprang from the evolution of radio technology.
The capacity of the radio to link people over great distances and different civilisations helped greatly to globalise knowledge and ideas. From emergency broadcasts to worldwide news, from music to discussion programs, radio remains a major part of our daily lives and evidence of the ongoing influence of this lightning-inspired creation.