WBAA Celebrates Its 95th Birthday

State Rep. Sheila Klinker (D-Lafayette) awards a proclamation to WBAA and General Manager Mike Savage.

WBAA celebrates its 95th anniversary on Tuesday, April 4th. The Indiana General Assembly kicked off the celebration Monday by recognizing WBAA with a state proclamation.

The station is the oldest in Indiana and began as an educational experiment by Purdue Electrical engineering students and professors. In the early 1900s. WBAA was officially licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce under Herbert Hoover April 4, 1922.

Some WBAA milestones include:

• 1919 -- Temporary government license to operate wireless station awarded

• Jan. 25, 1930 -- Resumed broadcasting after transmitter fire.

• 1937 -- Proposal to move station to Indianapolis vetoed by board of trustees.

• 1941 -- Moved to current location, basement of Elliott Hall of Music.

• 1971 -- Charter member of National Public Radio.

• Feb. 10, 1971 -- WBAA's first talk show, "Rap Session," aired.

• Feb. 1, 1993 -- WBAA 101.3 FM went on the air to focus primarily on fine arts programming.

• 2001 -- WBAA studios remodeled and updated.

• Mar. 1, 2000 – WBAA begins streaming broadcast on wbaa.org.

• Aug. 6, 2011 – The WBAA mobile App is launched.

• July, 2014 – WBAA’s General Manager Mike Savage is elected to the NPR Board.

• Oct. 21, 2016 – WBAA adds 105.9 FM to simulcast AM920 News and Information.

More details on WBAAs history is available at http://wbaa.org/topic/wbaa-history