- An Austrain-American actress and inventor
- At age 16, she was discovered by a famous director who encouraged her to start acting. She appeared in many major films such as Samson and Delilah and White Cargo, but under her beautiful exterior laid her passionate desire to invent.
- Lamarr would keep a small set of equipment in her trailer on movie sets, so she could work on inventions in between her takes.
- She invented a radio signaling device, or “Secret Communications System,” to fight the German Nazis. This device changed radio frequencies to prevent military enemies from being able to decode secret messages.
- Her invention forms the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems.
- She also created an upgraded stoplight and a tablet that dissolves in water, creating a soda similar to Coca-Cola.
- Sadly, Lamarr did not begin to gain recognition for her inventions until her later years. She was the first woman to receive the Invention Convention’s Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, and in 2014, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the development of her frequency hopping technology.
- She has been referred to as the “mother of Wi-Fi” because of her invention.