A glamorous Hollywood actress made significant engineering contributions today's wireless networks.

Hedy Lamarr was a famous movie actress in the 1930's. She also held a patent on technology which is the foundation for today's advanced wireless networks. Lamarr's had an idea for frequency hopping: switching from frequency to frequency in split-second intervals. Lamarr's idea, combined with a friend's idea of a device allowing the frequency to be synchronized, created technology that was never used as intended in World War II, but it created the foundation for today's wireless communications and has been used in the control of many U.S. intercontinental missiles.

Learn more about Hedy Lamarr.