Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil Patent Frequency Hopping

Hedy Lamarr was one of Golden Age Hollywood's most sought after stars. But she was also an inventor. With all hands on deck during WWII on August 11, 1942, Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a US patent for a “Secret Communication System.”

Known as frequency-hopping, the technique kept radio-guided torpedoes from being jammed. The transmitter and receiver would jump together between 88 frequencies, synchronized like a player piano. Although ultimately not used during the war, frequency hopping later became relevant with wireless communication. As such, Lamarr entered the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.