History For Weirdos Episode 72: Hedy Lamarr, the "Mother of WiFi"
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American Hollywood Actress from the Golden Age of cinema, yet was a technological pioneer. She began her acting career in her native Austria before emigrating to the United States in the 1930s. She appeared in numerous films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, including the controversial film "Ecstasy". Lamarr was also known for her beauty, and was voted the "most beautiful woman in films" by the Hollywood Film Industry Guild in 1940.
In addition to her acting career, Lamarr was also an inventor. During World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a secret communication system to help the Allies fight the Nazis. Their invention, a frequency-hopping system, used a piano roll to randomly change the radio frequencies of torpedoes, making them harder to detect and jam. The technology was ahead of its time and was not used during the war, but it forms the basis of modern wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth and WiFi. In 2014, Lamarr and Antheil were posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
But that's not all, tune in now to hear the full story of the amazing, Hedy Lamarr.
-
Thank you for listening Weirdos! Show the podcast some love by rating, reviewing, subscribing and sharing it today.
Your support means so much to us. Let's stay in touch 👇
Email: historyforweirdos@gmail.com
IG: @historyforweirdos
Website: historyforweirdos.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices