Essayer OR - Gratuit
Movie star Hedy Lamarr patents the forerunner of wi-fi
BBC History UK
|August 2025
The Hollywood actress officially registers the ingenious idea
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As the Second World War raged across continents, the US Patent Office quietly issued Patent No 2,292,387 for a 'Secret Communication System'. The document described an ingenious method for guiding radio-controlled torpedoes using 'frequency hopping' - a technique designed to prevent enemy forces from intercepting or jamming signals. Its inventors were hardly typical: Hedy Kiesler Markey, known worldwide as 'Hedy Lamarr', and avant-garde composer George Antheil.
Lamarr was a glamorous star of Hollywood's Golden Age, famous for films like Algiers (1938). But beneath the surface of celebrity was a keen intellect shaped by a turbulent past. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna in 1914 to Jewish parents, Lamarr's early life combined artistic exposure with technical curiosity.
Cette histoire est tirée de l'édition August 2025 de BBC History UK.
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