Hedy Lamarr

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Who was Hedy Lamarr?


Hedy Lamarr actually named Hedwig born November 9, 1914, was an Australian-born film actress as well as an inventor. She's thought to be one of the greatest movie actresses of all time. Lamarr did not attend college surprisingly. She was privately tutored from age 4 and at age 16 she was enrolled in Max Reinhardt's Berlin-based dramatic school. Afterward, she began a promising career in acting in America and was very successful. It was not until the early years of World War II that she really made an impact on computer science. She was attempting to try and invent a device to block enemy ships from jamming torpedo guidance signals. When attempting she developed something called signal hopping a method used to rapidly switch transmitting radio signals among several frequency channels. This was the basis for modern-day Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems. She also contributed to spread spectrum technology. As a result of her prowess in the field she was awarded the 1997 Pioneer Award, was the first woman to win the Invention Convention BULBIE Gnaws Spirit of Achievement Award, Electronic Frontier Foundations Pioneer Award, and had an award named after her (Hedy Lamarr Achievement Award for Emerging Leaders in Entertainment Technology). Sadly, Hedy Lamarr died on January 19, 2000, and left the world with an impeding effect and helped shape the world we know today in a large way.


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