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| Guglielmo Marconi |
He
is known for many of his inventions including long-distance radio transmission
and the radio telegraph system, but he is best known as the “Father of
Radio.”
Italian
inventor, Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy on April 25, 1874 to
Giuseppe Marconi and his wife, Annie Jameson, the granddaughter of John
Jameson, founder of whisky distiller Jameson & Sons. Marconi was privately
educated and developed an avid interest in science and electricity at a young
age.
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| A Young Marconi |
In
1894, Marconi began conducting experiments using radio waves to transmit
telegraph messages without wires. Although the idea was not new, the
20-year-old Marconi was able to achieve transmission ranges of over 1.5 miles:
unheard of at the time.
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| Setting Equipment Up |
In
1897, Marconi transmitted the first wireless communication over open sea from
Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point in Penarth. The distance was 3.7 miles. The
message sent: “Are you ready?” Immediately, the equipment was moved to Brean Down Fort
on the Somerset coast and the message sent again, covering 9.9 miles over the
ocean.
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| Marconi at Turn of Century |
Marconi
began lecturing in London and soon received international attention with his
first U.S. demonstration taking place in New York in the fall of 1899.
By
1901, Marconi had created Marconi House in Wexford and was attempting to
transmit wireless messages between two points that were a distance of 2,200
miles apart. Critics doubted this claim and Marconi prepared a new, documented
test in February 1902, which showed reception up to 1,550 miles with audio reception
of up to 2,100 miles.
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| President Roosevelt |
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| King Edward VII |
Finally,
on January 18, 1903, Marconi Station in South Wellfleet, Massachusetts sent the
world’s first radio message across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom; it was a
greeting from President Theodore Roosevelt to England’s King Edward VII.
Marconi now knew that he could establish communication with ships at sea from
both sides of the Atlantic.
In
1905, Marconi married the Honorable Beatrice O’Brien, daughter of a baron. They
had three daughters and one son. The couple divorced in 1924 and Marconi
married Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali in 1927: Benito Mussolini was his best man. He and his second wife had one child, a daughter.
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| Noble Prize for Physics |
In 1909, Marconi
shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Braun for his contribution to radio
communications.
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| Jack Phillips |
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| Harold Bride |
In was spring, 1912 when two Marconi International Marine Communication
Company employees, Jack Phillips, senior wireless officer, and Harold Bride,
junior wireless operator were manning the radios on the ill-fated Titanic
that April night when she hit an iceberg and sank.
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| David Sarnoff |
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| Add caption |
The
RMS Carpathia kept radio contact with Marconi Company employee David Sarnoff
for 72-hours as it made its way toward the U.S. with the survivors of the
Titanic. Junior operator, Harold Bride was on that ship, and told Marconi how they
had continued to signal for help.
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| Marconi and Harold Bride Testify |
Marconi gave evidence to the Court of Inquiry
about the marine wireless radio’s function. Marconi was acknowledged in the
final summation of the report with this statement: "Those who have been saved, have been saved through one man, Mr.
Marconi...and his marvelous invention.”
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| Marconi and Radio Equipment |
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| Basilica of Santa Croce |
Guglielmo
Marconi died on July 20, 1937 from heart failure in Rome. He was 63 years-old. A
monument to Marconi is located in the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, but he
was buried in Sasso, Italy near his hometown.
A period of radio silence was observed for the pioneer of radio communications: a fitting tribute for the Father of Radio.
~
Joy
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