Radio Australia started as 3ME Melbourne in 1921. ** 3AW and 2GB once banned all Beatles records. ** 3AR, 3KZ, 2HD, 2UW, 5KA, 5AU, and ... See more and 4AT were closed by the military for broadcasting security breaches during WW2. ** 3UZ-3XY, 5AN-5CL, 2SM-2CH, and 4BC-4BK, experimented with stereo in 1958 (left and right channels on separate stations). ** 3DB rejected a job application from John Laws. ** 3BO was the first station to employ John Laws. ** 3AK and 2SM both claim to be the first to try talkback radio, but 2UE was the first to legally broadcast talkback. ** 2BL was previously 2SB, and actually started as 2HP. ** 2FC broadcast an interview with Adolf Hitler in 1932. ** 2UE started the original Top 40 charts in March 1958. ** 2BL broadcast 5,795 episodes of “Blue Hills”. ** 2UW broadcast 2,276 episodes of “Dad and Dave”. 2GB planned to open 3GB, 4GB, 5GB, 6GB, and 7GB. ** 2KY was the first station in the world to broadcast Parliament. 2HD opened with 12 records in their library. ** Moss Vale used to have its own commercial station (2MV). ** The 2GZ, 2LE, and 2KA studios used to be in Sydney. ** 2WG was once kept on air during severe flooding by an amateur operating his radio link to the 2WG transmitter. ** 2DU was put off the air several times due to flooding. ** 2CH banned liquor and gambling advertisements, and any mention of the Melbourne Cup. ** 5DN newsreader Murray Nicholl broadcast live his home burning down during the “Ash Wednesday” fires in 1983. ** The Australian Army was issued a broadcast license for its’ Adelaide River camp (N.T.) which never went to air. ** Perth had a secret underground radio station in Nedlands to be used if invaded by the Japanese in WW2. ** 4WK lost a grand piano when termites caused it to fall through the studio floor while being played live to air. ** 2BS had the studio, transmitter, record library, and office in one room. The owner and his family lived in the second room. ** The 2KA transmitter was wired with explosives during WW2 in case the Japanese attacked. ** 4CM conducted the first Australian TV experiments in 1929, which were received regularly in Melbourne. 2LM was sold for 25 pounds. ** A 6KY program called “Topless Radio” was banned by the censors. ** 3BA was forced to give up its’ security pistol, and 3XY race caller Ken Howard had his binoculars seized for the war effort in WW2. ** F.M. transmissions were first experimented with in Australia on 9MHz in 1927. ** 4BH was the first Australian station to install a directional aerial, and 2SM was the first to install an active aerial. ** 2UW was the first to broadcast live shark and beach reports from an aeroplane, the first in the British Empire to broadcast 24 hours per day, the only Sydney station to broadcast the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the first station in the world to broadcast serials. ** 2UE was the first to broadcast the 6 pips every hour (1939). ** 7EX listeners raised enough money to buy a spitfire fighter plane for the war effort in WW2. ** 2KY was closed for 5 days by the Government for inciting labour unrest. ** Callsign 2XL was issued to commercial stations in Lismore, Broken Hill, and Cooma. ** 2UE was the first to experiment with transmitting still pictures. Newspapers took one year to mention the existence of 2UE after they opened. ** 2VM was the first A.M. regional station to be granted an F.M. license. ** 3SR created a record by airing 40 commercials in one hour. ** 4GR was put off the air when a crop duster plane demolished their tower. ** 4BC was the first to broadcast an aboriginal corroboree. ** At one stage, announcers at 6KG also operated the Royal Flying Doctor Radio Base. ** 2FC used 150 batteries to power a broadcast from a church. ** All the fish in the 2KA reception aquarium died on the opening day of their Penrith studios. ** 7HT once played “High Noon” by Frankie Laine continuously for 24 hours. ** While Billy Thorpe was interviewed on 3XY, a man arrived with a shotgun demanding to see him. ** 7LA was the first station to own an outside broadcast van. ** 3KZ was the first to broadcast news of the Japanese surrender. ** Commercial licenses issued to 4CH Charleville, 5MG Mount Gambier, 5MC Adelaide, 5EP Port Lincoln, 2LE Meadow Flat, 2SI Singleton, and 2NZ Narrabri, never went to air. ** Radio towers at 6WA (700 feet tall), 2LT, 2LF, 2RE (3 times), 3TR, 3YB, 3CS, 4EL, 4GR, 4BU, 4AY, 4LG and 5RM, all collapsed. ** 2SM banned the words “pregnant” and “rape” in their news. ** The first manager of 3XY was Tom Holt, father of Prime Minister Harold Holt. ** Melbourne had 3 pirate radio stations in the 1970s. ** 3LO once received news items via morse code from London. ** John Laws resigned after one shift at 2PK as smoking was banned. ** 3UZ started with one microphone, one gramophone, and one pianola. ** 2CK gave up and closed down after their studio was destroyed by fire for the third time. Other stations put off the air by fires included 6GE, 4QN, 2BE, 2QN, 2NI, 3HA, and 3DB. ** 2SM banned the song “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”. ** 7NT was still using their second transmitter in 2006. ** 2XT was a mobile station in a train, broadcasting from 100 N.S.W. rural towns. ** 2NI was operated simultaneously by the telephone exchange operator. ** A Lord Howe Island station used the Qantas Flying Boat Base at the end of the wharf for its studio. 4NA used a rowboat, and 2RE used a helicopter to transport technicians to their transmitters during flooding. ** 7QT once sacked one announcer for only playing hillbilly records, and sacked another for singing along with the records live on air.