Hedy Lamarr awarded a patent August 11, 1942
Patent #2,292,387 was awarded to Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil August 11, 1942.
Their frequency hopping radio guidance system became the backbone for modern WI-Fi and Bluetooth.
And she didn’t receive a penny for it.
“I got the idea for my invention as a way to even the balance for the British.” She was quoted, calling it “obvious” to her. “They shot torpedoes in all directions and never hit the target, so I invented something that does.”
Austria issued a superb crypto stamp to honour Lamarr and her inventions. It was one of the most spot on and special stamps ever issued on her, something that would make Hedy blush with pride.
Hedy Lamarr: The Mind
“a mind that moved in frequencies above the noise”
NFT
Issued by Austria in 2025
Designer: Hackatao
This NFT stamp was part of an ‘homage to genius” set that paired Lamarr with Mozart. You can learn more about the artist Hackatao and see more of their work here https://hackatao.com/bio.
On this date in 1942, Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr (called “the most beautiful woman in Hollywood”) received a patent with composer George Antheil for a “frequency hopping, spread-spectrum communication system” designed to make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect or jam.
https://jwa.org/thisweek/aug/11/1942/actress-hedy-lamarr-patents-basis-for-wifi
Despite being sited in 82 patents by companies ranging from Northrop Fry to Seagate Technologies and Sony, Hedy didn’t receive a dime, or, for decades, credit for her ground breaking work.
I used this stamp earlier in a SOD, but I think there is no better stamp to represent her brilliance than an NFT stamp that would not exist without her invention.
SODs for this day: