MDBCs 13 Feb 2026

On February 13 or World Radio Day, take the time to honor the role of radio in the world of communication and its contribution in our daily lives.

The holiday was created by the United Nations (UN) in 2011 as a way to celebrate the start of UN radio in 1946. It also aims to raise awareness about the role that radios play in society.

Russia celebrates Communications Workers' Day on May 7 to commemorate the date in 1895 when Alexander Popov, a Russian physicist, successfully demonstrated a working radio transmitter. Bulgaria also celebrates the day but calls it Radio and Television Day.

How to Celebrate?

Learn more about the history and science of radios.
Learn how to build your own radio – you never know when you may need to make one.
Give your time and money to organizations working on bringing radio communications to many isolated parts of the world.

Did You Know…

…that the Spanish Academy of Radio had originally proposed to create a World Radio Day on October 30? On this day in 1938, a performance of War of the Worlds by Orsen Wellß was aired over the radio.

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One day, my physician father treated himself to a plate of raw oysters and offered to share them with me. Just as I was about to dig in, he picked up an oyster, examined it, and commented,

“They remind me of infected tonsils.”And that’s the story of how he ended up eating the entire plate of oysters himself.

***

My six-year-old loved his pet fish. He watched and fed it faithfully, morning and night. But one day while he was in school, his fish died, so I flushed it down the toilet. I told him when he got home, and he was inconsolable. Nothing I said helped.

After a while, I asked, “Why are you crying so much?”

Arching his back, he shouted, “I wanted to flush!”

***

Two regulars are sitting at a bar when one of them casually points to a couple of drunks across from them.

“That’s us in ten years,” he says.

His friend takes a sip from his beer, sets it down on the bar, turns to his friend, and slurs, “That’s a mirror.”

***

I was working from home, interviewing a famous neurologist for an article, when my three-year-old announced she had to go potty and waddled into the bathroom.

After some loud moans, she yelled, “I did it, Mom! I pooped in the toilet! I pooped on the floor too! But I’ll clean it! Oh, I stepped in it!”

There was an uncomfortable silence as I realized the doctor had heard every word. “Ha ha,” I laughed nervously. “Do you have kids?”