#15. Beauty and the Bluetooth

Hedy Lamarr was not only a Hollywood icon–very much the Marilyn Monroe of her generation–she was also a brilliant inventor. During WWII, Hedy and composer George Antheil took inspiration from player pianos to develop frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology. What is that you may ask? Well of course I’ll tell you!

At the time, German U-boats were wreaking havoc in the Atlantic, sinking Allied ships with deadly efficiency. Torpedoes were guided using radio signals, but there was a major flaw—enemy forces could jam those signals, throwing torpedoes off course. Hedy, horrified by the destruction and wanting to aid the war effort, devised a solution: if the signal constantly "hopped" between frequencies in a coordinated pattern, it would be nearly impossible for the enemy to intercept or block.

The U.S. Navy initially dismissed the idea, shelving it for years. But decades later, her technology became the foundation for Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. Despite her groundbreaking invention, Lamarr was mostly remembered for her beauty rather than her genius. It wasn’t until late in life that she received recognition for her contributions to science and technology.