TODAY’S PATRIOT

People Who Made America Great

---

Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000) was a dual-threat icon of the 20th century: a world-famous Hollywood actress and a self-taught mathematical and engineering genius. Born in Austria, she fled a marriage to an arms merchant connected to the Nazi regime and moved to the United States, where she became a leading lady for MGM. While the public knew her as “the most beautiful woman in the world,” Lamarr spent her nights in her home laboratory, tinkering with inventions ranging from an improved traffic light to a tablet that turned water into a carbonated drink.

Lamarr’s most historic achievement was the invention of frequency hopping, a precursor to modern “Spread Spectrum” technology. During World War II, she learned that radio-controlled torpedoes were easily jammed by the enemy. Working with composer George Antheil, she developed a secret communication system that used a piano-roll mechanism to jump radio signals between 88 different frequencies, making the torpedoes impossible to track or jam. Today, every device that uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or GPS relies on the principles Lamarr pioneered. She remains a symbol of American innovation, proving that creative brilliance can bridge the worlds of high art and hard science.