Who first generated and detected radio waves experimentally in the 1880s?

Heinrich Hertz first generated and detected radio waves experimentally in the 1880s.

Between 1886 and 1888, the German physicist built apparatus that produced sparks and detected electromagnetic waves at a distance. His results confirmed James Clerk Maxwell’s theoretical prediction that changing electric and magnetic fields could travel through space as waves.

Hertz measured properties such as reflection, refraction, interference, and polarization, showing that radio waves behaved like other electromagnetic radiation. The unit hertz, meaning one cycle per second, was named in his honor. It is used for frequency throughout physics and engineering.

Hertz did not develop radio broadcasting or wireless communication for the public. Those later applications were advanced by inventors and engineers including Guglielmo Marconi. Hertz himself reportedly regarded the experiments as confirmation of theory rather than a practical communications technology.