'Morning Edition' Celebrates 35 Years With A Trip Down Memory Lane

By NPR

Published November 4, 2014 at 9:31 PM PST

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

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Bob Edwards was the host of Morning Edition from its inception, in 1979, until 2004. — Bob Edwards was the host of *Morning Edition* from its inception, in 1979, until 2004.

Memo from Larry Lichty, former NPR director of audience research and evaluation, seeking name suggestions for a new morning news program.

On this day in 1979, Morning Edition broadcast its first show, bringing a new style of storytelling to the early drive-time airwaves.

That first show, hosted by Bob Edwards and Barbara Hunter, included an interview with a young actor named Martin Sheen about Apocalypse Now; a report on a failed prison escape by James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr.; and a story about Rhodesia, a country that no longer exists. (You can view the first show's rundown of segments here.)

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Over the next 35 years, Morning Edition would elevate itself to become public radio's top news program.