Hedy Lamarr was born on November 9th, 1914 in Vienna, Austria.
From a young age, Hedy was tutored to specialize in piano and dance. When
she was 16, she began her acting career at Max Reinhardt's drama school. She
starred in many films, but it wasn't until World War II that she began working on
her invention with George Antheil. Together, they invented a device that would
minimize the likelihood of message transmitted over a radio being intercepted.
This device was meant to aid the Navy during the war, but after the device was
patented, it was never put in use. Instead, the army got Hedy to sell war
bonds using her celebrity status. Her device was not recognized until
Hedy was in her 80's in 1997. She received the Pioneer Award by the Electronic
Frontier Foundation to recognize her for her work. Sadly, on January 19th, 2000,
she passed away. 14 year after her death, she was inducted into the National
Inventors hall of fame. Now, her is used as the foundation for other types of
technological used for communication like Bluetooth, WI-FI, and GPS. Hedy Lamarr
is proof that people don't just have to be good in one field. She not only
excelled in science, but she also had a great acting career.