Hedy Lamarr

[Kronx]

During World War II, Lamarr learned that radio-controlled torpedoes, which could be important in the naval war, could easily be jammed, thereby causing the torpedo to go off course. With the knowledge she had gained about torpedoes from her first husband, she came up with the idea of somehow creating a frequency-hopping signal that could not be tracked or jammed. She contacted her friend, composer and pianist George Antheil, to help her develop a device for doing that, and he succeeded by synchronizing a miniaturized player-piano mechanism with radio signals. They drafted designs for the frequency-hopping system which they patented.

Their invention was granted a patent on August 11, 1942 (filed using her married name Hedy Kiesler Markey).

That invention is used today in what we call WiFi and Bluetooth.

Mike Rowe's First 'The Way I Heard it' Regarding Hedy Lamarr
https://overcast.fm/+GHNOKC1GE

 

[Fire-medic]

Yes, I've been aware of this contribution for many years. Think of all the lives saved by the discovery, a true heroine of the times.

Another person to look up is major league catcher Moe Berg. His story reads like something from John LeCarre, Ian Fleming, or a Mission Impossible movie. A WW II spy in Europe who spoke multiple languages. Here it is, straight from the 'horse's mouth,' the CIA, which was the OSS before it was re-named after WW II. I had an acquaintance who was retired from the OSS who lived where I worked, he was a colorful character, and I'm sure he took many secrets to his grave.

https://www.cia.gov/news-informatio...ive/2013-featured-story-archive/moe-berg.html