She Was Hollywood's Biggest Star. She Also Invented WiFi. She Got Nothing.

Hedy Lamarr was the most famous actress in Hollywood in the 1940s. She was also, in her spare time, developing the communications technology that now underpins WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. She and composer George Antheil filed the patent in 1942 as a wartime contribution. The Navy rejected it. The patent expired in 1959. The technology was eventually built into every wireless device on Earth. She received nothing. Episode 7 of Brilliant Minds Against the World — the most quietly devastating patent story ever told. #HedyLamarr #frequencyhoppingspreadspectrum #WiFiinventorhistory #Bluetoothhistory #GPSinventionhistory #womeninventorshistory #Hollywoodhistoryscience #GeorgeAntheil #brilliantmindsagainsttheworld #patenthistory #womeninSTEMhistory #yourdoseofwowness #SecretCommunicationSystempatent #HedyLamarrinventor #spreadspectrumcommunications