Hedy Lamarr

Hello! My name is Hedy Lamarr, and I want to tell you my story. I was born a long, long time ago, on November 9th, 1914, in a beautiful city called Vienna, in Austria. When I was a little girl, I was very curious. I loved to take my toys apart, especially my music box, just to see how all the little pieces inside worked together to make a wonderful sound. I would put them back together again, too! Besides being curious, I also dreamed of being an actress and seeing my face on the big movie screen. I couldn't wait to see what my future would hold.

My dream of becoming an actress came true! When I grew up, I moved all the way to America, to a sunny place called Hollywood where they made lots of movies. I became a famous movie star! In 1938, my first American movie, called 'Algiers,' was a huge hit. It was so exciting to see myself on the giant screen. People thought I was just a pretty face, but they didn't know about my secret hobby. When I wasn't acting, I was busy at home with my other favorite thing: inventing! I had a whole room set up just for my ideas and experiments. I believed that anyone could have great ideas, no matter what they did for a job.

During this time, a big war was happening in the world, called World War II. I really wanted to find a way to help. I heard that ships were using special underwater missiles called torpedoes, but the enemy could easily stop them by blocking their radio signals. I thought and thought about this problem. Then, I had a brilliant idea! What if the signal could jump from one radio channel to another, like quickly changing the station on a radio? If it jumped around fast enough, the enemy couldn't find it to block it! I worked with my friend, a musician named George Antheil, and in 1942 we got a patent for our 'Secret Communication System.' A patent is like a special certificate that says an idea is yours and protects it so no one else can copy it.

Even though my invention wasn't used in the war, my idea of 'frequency hopping' was very important. Many years later, other inventors used my idea to create some of the amazing things we use every day. Have you ever used Wi-Fi to watch a video, or Bluetooth to listen to music with headphones? My invention is a small part of what makes those things work! I lived a long and exciting life and was 85 years old when I passed away. I am so happy that people remember me not just as a movie star, but as an inventor who proved that a creative mind can change the world.