April 5 Illinois History Minute

It’s April 5th, the day that writer Robert Bloch (block) was born in Chicago in 1927. Bloch’s specialties were science fiction, fantasy, crime and horror. His novel “Psycho” became the basis for the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Today’s the day in 1922 when amateur radio station 9JR in the Douglas County town of Tuscola became station WDZ, upon receipt of a new federal license specifically for radio broadcasting. Commodity broker James Bush had used 9JR to broadcast the latest market prices.

And the University of Illinois received their radio broadcasting license on this day in 1922. They scheduled the inaugural broadcast of their new station, WRM --- later renamed WILL -- for the very next evening on April 6th.