Fact Finder - General Knowledge

Fact
Hedy Lamarr: Actress and Inventor
Category
General Knowledge
Subcategory
Famous Personalities
Country
Austria / USA
Description
Hedy Lamarr was a celebrated Hollywood actress during the 'Golden Age,' but she was also a brilliant self-taught inventor. During World War II, she co-invented a 'frequency-hopping' spread spectrum technology intended to prevent Allied torpedoes from being jammed by enemy signals. While the Navy did not adopt the technology during the war, it became the foundation for modern wireless communication, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. For decades, her scientific contributions were ignored in favor of her screen career, but she is now recognized as a pioneer of the digital communication revolution. She was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.