Story Highlights
- historical event: One of her most notable roles was the one of Delilah in the film Samson and Delilah. It is interesting but not widely known that Hedy Lamarr was also an inventor. The Germans, Austrians and Swiss celebrate Inventors’ Day on this day, precisely because it is the day she was born.
On this day the famous actress Hedy Lamarr was born in Vienna. She was born under the name Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, to wealthy Jewish parents. She started acting in films early, first in her native Austria, then in London, where she changed her name to Hedy Lamarr, and finally in Hollywood, where she made many films. One of her most notable roles was the one of Delilah in the film Samson and Delilah. It is interesting but not widely known that Hedy Lamarr was also an inventor.
The Germans, Austrians and Swiss celebrate Inventors’ Day on this day, precisely because it is the day she was born. The invention for which she became known is a system for the protection of communication by changing its frequency. Her system used 88 frequencies that were constantly changing according to a pattern inscribed on a piano roll. If the sender and recipient of the signal have the same pattern, they can communicate protected from interference and eavesdropping. Hedy Lamarr received a patent for her invention, which was initially designed to protect radio-guided torpedoes.
