Invention of the telephone
The carbon microphone was independently developed around 1878 by David Edward Hughes in England and Emile Berliner and Thomas Edison in the US. Although Edison was awarded the first patent in mid-1877, Hughes had demonstrated his working device in front of many witnesses some years earlier, and most historians credit him with its invention.
Raymond A. Litke
Litke's wireless microphone was first tested at the Olympic trials held at Stanford University in 1959. Next, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC television) tested the microphone at the Democratic and Republican Conventions in 1960. Candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were among the first celebrities to use the Vega-Mike. TV anchor John Daly praised Litke's invention on the ABC television news broadcast in July 1960. Daly introduced it to Americans with the words: "This is a Vega-Mike" and went on to explain it "is a wireless microphone, six inches long... without any wires of any kind..." Daly pointed out it could be used to broadcast "within the (convention) hall or outside... without the inconvenience of interconnecting microphone cables..." Even the Federal Communication Commission was impressed with it. The FCC gave him 12 frequencies instead of the one he was seeking.