Guglielmo Marconi
Born	April 25, 1874(1874-04-25) Palazzo Marescalchi, Bologna, Italy
Died	July 20, 1937 (aged 63) Rome, Italy
Known for	Radio
Notable awards	Nobel Prize for Physics (1909)
Religious stance	Roman Catholic

Marchese Guglielmo Marconi [guʎ'ʎe:lmo mar'ko:ni] (25 April 1874 - 20 July 1937) was an Italian inventor, best known for his development of a radiotelegraph system, which served as the foundation for the establishment of numerous affiliated companies worldwide. Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. The Nobel Prize in Physics (Nobelpriset i fysik is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. A marquess (ˈmɑrkwɪs or marquis (/mɑrˈkiː/ is a Nobleman of hereditary rank in various European monarchies and some of their colonies Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun, "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy". The Nobel Prize in Physics (Nobelpriset i fysik is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Karl Ferdinand Braun ( 6 June 1850 in Fulda, Germany &ndash 20 April 1918 in New York City, U ^[1] Later in life, Marconi was an active Italian Fascist^[2] and an apologist for their ideology (such as the attack by Italian forces in Ethiopia). The term Italian Fascism denotes the totalitarian Fascismo political movement that ruled Italy from 1922 until 1943 under leader Benito Mussolini There are numerous debates concerning fascism and ideology. The position of fascism on the political spectrum is a point of contention See also First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Second Italo–Abyssinian War (also referred to as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) was a

Biography

Early years

Marconi was born near Bologna, Italy, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian landowner, and his Irish wife, Annie Jameson, granddaughter of the founder of the Jameson Whiskey distillery. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging Landholder or landowner is a holder of the Estate in land with considerable rights of ownership or simply put an owner of land The Irish people ( Irish: Muintir na hÉireann, na hÉireannaigh, na Gaeil) are a Western European Ethnic group who originate Jameson is a Single Distillery Whiskey from Ireland meaning that unlike blends where several whiskeys from either other distilleries or the open market are combined together thus ^[1] Marconi was educated in Bologna in the lab of Augusto Righi, in Florence at the Istituto Cavallero, and, later, in Livorno. Augusto Righi ( 27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian Physicist and pioneer of the study of Electromagnetism As a child Marconi did not do well in school. ^[3] Baptized as a Catholic, he was a member of the Anglican Church. Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs

Radio work

During his early years, Marconi had an interest in science and electricity. One of the scientific developments during this era came from Heinrich Hertz, who, beginning in 1888, demonstrated that one could produce and detect electromagnetic radiation—now generally known as "radio waves", at the time more commonly called "Hertzian waves" or "aetheric waves". Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory Electromagnetic radiation takes the form of self-propagating Waves in a Vacuum or in Matter. Hertz's death in 1894 brought published reviews of his earlier discoveries, and a renewed interest on the part of Marconi. He was permitted to briefly study the subject under Augusto Righi, a University of Bologna physicist who had done research on Hertz's work. Augusto Righi ( 27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian Physicist and pioneer of the study of Electromagnetism The University of Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna UNIBO) is one of the oldest continually operating degree-granting universities in the world

Early experimental devices

Marconi began to conduct experiments, building much of his own equipment in the attic of his home at the Villa Griffone in Pontecchio, Italy. His goal was to use radio waves to create a practical system of "wireless telegraphy"—i. The term Wireless Telegraphy is a historic term used today as applied to early Radio Telegraph communications techniques and practices e. the transmission of telegraph messages without connecting wires as used by the electric telegraph. The electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electric signals The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission This was not a new idea—numerous investigators had been exploring wireless telegraph technologies for over 50 years, but none had proven commercially successful. Marconi did not discover any new and revolutionary principle in his wireless-telegraph system, but rather he assembled and improved an array of facts, unified and adapted them to his system. ^[4] Marconi's system had the following components:^[5]

• A relatively simple oscillator, or spark producing radio transmitter, which was closely modeled after one designed by Righi, in turn similar to what Hertz had used;
• A wire or capacity area placed at a height above the ground;
• A coherer receiver, which was a modification of Edouard Branly's original device, with refinements to increase sensitivity and reliability;
• A telegraph key to operate the transmitter to send short and long pulses, corresponding to the dots-and-dashes of Morse code; and
• A telegraph register, activated by the coherer, which recorded the received Morse code dots and dashes onto a roll of paper tape. Oscillation is the repetitive variation typically in Time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of Equilibrium) or between two or more different states A spark-gap transmitter is a device for generating Radio frequency electromagnetic waves. coherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries consisting of a capsule of metal filings in the space between Telegraph key, also known as a Morse key, are generic terms for any switching device used primarily to send Morse code. Morse code is a Character encoding for transmitting telegraphic information using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters numerals

Similar configurations using spark-gap transmitters plus coherer-receivers had been tried by others, but many were unable to achieve transmission ranges of more than a few hundred metres. This was not the case for all researchers in the field of the wireless arts, though. ^[6][7]

At first, Marconi could only signal over limited distances. In the summer of 1895 he moved his experimentation outdoors. After increasing the length of the transmitter and receiver antennas, and arranging them vertically, and positioning the antenna so that it touched the ground, the range increased significantly. ^[8] (Although Marconi may not have understood until later the reason, the "ground connections" allowed the earth to act as a waveguide resonator for the surface wave signal. A waveguide is a structure which guides waves such as Electromagnetic waves Light, or Sound waves A resonator is a device or system that exhibits Resonance or resonant behavior that is it naturally oscillates at some frequencies, called its resonance In Physics, surface wave can refer to a Mechanical wave that propagates along the interface between differing media usually two fluids with different densities ^[9]) Soon he was able to transmit signals over a hill, a distance of approximately 1. 5 km (0. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand 9 mi). A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States By this point he concluded that with additional funding and research, a device could become capable of spanning greater distances and would prove valuable both commercially and militarily.

Finding limited interest in his work in Italy, in early 1896 at the age of 21, Marconi traveled to London, England, accompanied by his mother to seek support for his work. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland (Marconi spoke fluent English in addition to Italian. ) While there, he gained the interest and support of William Preece, the Chief Electrical Engineer of the British Post Office. Sir William Henry Preece ( February 15[[ 834]]- November 6 1913) was a Welsh Electrical engineer and Inventor. The apparatus that Marconi possessed at that time was strikingly similar to that of one in 1882 by A. E. Dolbear, of Tufts College, which used a spark coil generator and a carbon granular rectifier for reception. Amos Emerson Dolbear ( November 10, 1837 &ndash February 23, 1910) was an American Physicist and Inventor. Cat’s whisker refers to a thin Wire that lightly touches a semiconducting crystal to make an imperfect contact-junction detector in a Crystal radio ^[10][11] A series of demonstrations for the British government followed—by March, 1897, Marconi had transmitted Morse code signals over a distance of about 6 km (3. 7 mi) across the Salisbury Plain. Salisbury Plain is a Chalk Plateau in central southern England covering. On 13 May 1897, Marconi sent the first ever wireless communication over water. Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common It transversed the Bristol Channel from Lavernock Point (South Wales) to Flat Holm Island, a distance of 6 km (3. The Bristol Channel ( Môr Hafren) is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset Lavernock (Larnog is a hamlet in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, lying on the coast West of Cardiff between Penarth and Sully South Wales (De Cymru is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south and Mid Wales and West Wales Flat Holm (Ynys Echni is a limestone Island lying in the Bristol Channel approximately from Lavernock Point in Glamorgan. 7 mi). The message read "Are you ready". ^[12]. The receiving equipment was almost immediately relocated to Brean Down Fort on the Somerset coast, stretching the range to 16 km (10 mi). Brean Down Fort was built above sea level on the headland at Brean Down, south of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Impressed by these and other demonstrations, Preece introduced Marconi's ongoing work to the general public at two important London lectures: "Telegraphy without Wires", at the Toynbee Hall on 11 December 1896; and "Signalling through Space without Wires", given to the Royal Institute on 4 June 1897. Toynbee Hall is the original university Settlement house of the settlement movement Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common

Numerous additional demonstrations followed, and Marconi began to receive international attention. In July, 1897 he carried out a series of tests at La Spezia in his home country, for the Italian government. La Spezia ( Spèsa in the local dialect of Ligurian) is a city in the Liguria region of northern Italy, at the head of La Spezia A test for Lloyds between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island, Ireland, was conducted on 6 July 1898. Ballycastle can refer to Ballycastle County Antrim, a small town in Northern Ireland Ballycastle County Down, a townland in Northern Rathlin Island ( Irish and Scottish Gaelic: Reachlainn, also Reachra in Scottish Gaelic is an Island off the Coast of Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Events 1044 - The Battle of Ménfő takes place 1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The English channel was crossed on 27 March 1899, from Wimereux, France to South Foreland Lighthouse, England, and in the fall of 1899, the first demonstrations in the United States took place, with the reporting of the America's Cup international yacht races at New York. Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Wimereux is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. South Foreland Lighthouse is a Victorian Lighthouse on The America’s Cup is the most prestigious Regatta and Match race in the sport of Sailing, and the oldest active Trophy in international

Marconi sailed to the United States at the invitation of the New York Herald newspaper to cover the America's Cup races off Sandy Hook, NJ. The America’s Cup is the most prestigious Regatta and Match race in the sport of Sailing, and the oldest active Trophy in international The transmission was done aboard the SS Ponce a passenger ship of the Porto Rico Line. ^[13]. According to the Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute by the United States Naval Institute, the Marconi instruments were tested around 1899 and the tests concerning his wireless system found that the "[. The U S Naval Institute (USNI, based at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland, is a non-profit professional military association that seeks to offer independent . . ] coherer, principle of which was discovered some twenty years ago, [was] the only electrical instrument or device contained in the apparatus that is at all new". ^[14]

Transatlantic transmissions

Marconi watching associates raise kite antenna at St. John's, December, 1901

“	See if you can hear anything, Mr. Kemp![15]	”

100th anniversary of Marconi's transatlantic wireless transmission, commemorated on a 2001 British two pound coin.

Around the turn of the century, Marconi began investigating the means to signal completely across the Atlantic, in order to compete with the transatlantic telegraph cables. Turn of the Century is a Novel by Kurt Andersen It was published in 1999 by Random House. The first transatlantic Telegraph Cable crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Foilhommerum Valentia Island, in western Ireland to Marconi soon made the announcement that on 12 December 1901, using a 152. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting 4 m (500 foot) kite-supported antenna for reception, the message was received at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland (now part of Canada) signals transmitted by the company's new high-power station at Poldhu, Cornwall. Signal Hill is a hill which overlooks the city of St John's Newfoundland and Labrador. St John's (ˌseɪntˈdʒanz French Saint-Jean) is the provincial capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and located on the eastern tip Newfoundland and Labrador (ˈnuːfɨn(dlənd ən(d ˈlæbrəˌdɔr (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth and latest to join the Confederation Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Poldhu is a small area in south Cornwall, England, UK, situated on the Lizard Peninsula it comprises Poldhu Point and Poldhu Cove Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar The distance between the two points was about 3,500 km (2,175 mi). Heralded as a great scientific advance, there was -- and continues to be -- some skepticism about this claim, partly because the signals had been heard faintly and sporadically. There was no independent confirmation of the reported reception, and the transmission, consisting of the Morse code letter S sent repeatedly were difficult to discern from atmospheric noise. (A detailed technical review of Marconi's early transatlantic work appears in John S. Belrose's work of 1995. )^[16] The Poldhu transmitter was a two-stage circuit. ^[17][18] The first stage operated at lower voltage and provided the energy for the second stage to spark at a higher voltage. Nikola Tesla, a rival in transatlantic transmission, stated after being told of Marconi's reported transmission that "Marconi [. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page . . was] using seventeen of my patents. Below is a list of Tesla patents. Dr Nikola Tesla was an Inventor who obtained around 300 Patents ref>Snezana Sarbo Tesla's Patents, Sixth "^[19][20]

Feeling challenged by skeptics, Marconi prepared a better organized and documented test. Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism ( also spelled scepticism) sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a scientific or practical In February, 1902, the SS Philadelphia sailed west from Great Britain with Marconi aboard, carefully recording signals sent daily from the Poldhu station. The test results produced coherer-tape reception up to 2,496 km (1,551 mi), and audio reception up to 3,378 km (2,099 mi). Interestingly, the maximum distances were achieved at night, and these tests were the first to show that for mediumwave and longwave transmissions, radio signals travel much farther at night than in the day. Medium Wave (MW is a part of the Medium frequency (MF radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting. The longwave Radio band is a range of frequencies used for AM broadcasting, which extends from 148 During the daytime, signals had only been received up to about 1,125 km (699 mi), less than half of the distance claimed earlier at Newfoundland, where the transmissions had also taken place during the day. Because of this, Marconi had not fully confirmed the Newfoundland claims, although he did prove that radio signals could be sent for hundreds of kilometres, despite some scientists' belief they were essentially limited to line-of-sight distances.

On 17 December 1902, a transmission from the Marconi station in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, became the first radio message to cross the Atlantic from North America. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Glace Bay (2001 pop 16984 is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. On 18 January 1903, a Marconi station built near Wellfleet, Massachusetts in 1901 sent a message of greetings from Theodore Roosevelt, the President of the United States, to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, marking the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Theodore Roosevelt (ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 27 1858 January 6 1919 also known as T However, consistent transatlantic signalling was difficult to establish.

Marconi began to build high-powered stations on both sides of the Atlantic to communicate with ships at sea, in competition with other inventors. In 1904 a commercial service was established to transmit nightly news summaries to subscribing ships, which could incorporate them into their on-board newspapers. A regular transatlantic radio-telegraph service was finally begun on 17 October 1907 between Clifden Ireland and Glace Bay, but even after this the company struggled for many years to provide reliable communication. Clifden (An Clochán meaning "bee-hive cell" is a town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara 's largest town it is often Glace Bay (2001 pop 16984 is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

Titanic

The two radio operators aboard the Titanic were not employed by the White Star Line but by the Marconi International Marine Communication Company. Construction The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British Shipping Following the sinking of the ocean liner, survivors were rescued by the Carpathia. History The RMS Carpathia was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at their Newcastle upon Tyne, England shipyard When it docked in New York, Marconi went aboard with a reporter from the New York Times. ^[21] On 18 June 1912, Marconi gave evidence to the Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Titanic regarding the marine telegraphy's functions and the procedures for emergencies at sea. ^[22]

Patent disputes

Main articles: Invention of radio and History of radio. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio The pre-history and early history of radio is the history of Technology that produced radio instruments that use Radio waves Within the Timeline of

Marconi's work built upon the discoveries of numerous other scientists and experimenters. His original "two-circuit" equipment, consisting of a spark-gap transmitter plus a coherer-receiver, was similar to those used by other experimenters, and in particular to that employed by Oliver Lodge in a series of widely reported demonstrations in 1894. Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, FRS ( June 12, 1851 - August 22, 1940) born at Penkhull in Stoke-on-Trent and educated There were claims that Marconi was able to signal for greater distances than anyone else when using the spark-gap and coherer combination, but these have been disputed (notably by Tesla). ^[23]

In 1900 Alexander Stepanovich Popov stated to the Congress of Russian Electrical Engineers that: "[. Alexander Stepanovich Popov (Александр Степанович Попов (Gregorian March 16 1859 - January 13 1906, Julian March . . ] the emission and reception of signals by Marconi by means of electric oscillations [was] nothing new. In America, the famous engineer Nikola Tesla carried the same experiments in 1893. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page "^[24]

The Fascist regime in Italy credited Marconi with the first improvised arrangement in the development of radio. The National Fascist Party ( Partito Nazionale Fascista; PNF was an Italian party created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest ^[25] There was controversy whether his contribution was sufficient to deserve patent protection, or if his devices were too close to the original ones developed by Hertz, Popov, Branley, Tesla, and Lodge to be patentable.

While Marconi did pioneering demonstrations for the time, his equipment was limited by being essentially untuned, which greatly restricted the number of spark-gap radio transmitters which could operate simultaneously in a geographical area without causing mutually disruptive interference. (Continuous-wave transmitters were naturally more selective and less prone to this deficiency). Marconi addressed this defect with a patent application for a much more sophisticated "four-circuit" design, which featured two tuned-circuits at both the transmitting and receiving antennas. This was issued as British patent number 7,777 on 26 April 1900. Events 1467 - The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar However, this patent came after significant earlier work had been done on electrical tuning by Nikola Tesla. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page (As a defensive move, in 1911 the Marconi Company purchased the Lodge-Muirhead Syndicate, whose primary asset was Oliver Lodge's 1897 tuning patent. ) Thus, the "four-sevens" patent and its equivalents in other countries was the subject of numerous legal challenges, with rulings which varied by jurisdiction, from full validation of Marconi's tuning patent to complete nullification.

In 1943, a lawsuit regarding Marconi's numerous other radio patents was resolved in the United States. The court decision was based on the prior work conducted by others, including Nikola Tesla, Oliver Lodge, and John Stone Stone, from which some of Marconi patents (such as U.S. Patent 763,772 ) stemmed. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, FRS ( June 12, 1851 - August 22, 1940) born at Penkhull in Stoke-on-Trent and educated John Stone Stone ( September 24, 1869 &ndash May 20, 1943) was an American mathematician, Physicist The U. S. Supreme Court stated that,

The Tesla patent No. 645,576, applied for September 2, 1897 and allowed March 20, 1900, disclosed a four-circuit system, having two circuits each at transmitter and receiver, and recommended that all four circuits be tuned to the same frequency. [. . . He] recognized that his apparatus could, without change, be used for wireless communication, which is dependent upon the transmission of electrical energy. ^[26]

In making their decision, the court noted,

Marconi's reputation as the man who first achieved successful radio transmission rests on his original patent, which became reissue No. 11,913, and which is not here [320 U. S. 1, 38] in question. That reputation, however well-deserved, does not entitle him to a patent for every later improvement which he claims in the radio field. Patent cases, like others, must be decided not by weighing the reputations of the litigants, but by careful study of the merits of their respective contentions and proofs. "^[27]

The court also stated that,

It is well established that as between two inventors priority of invention will be awarded to the one who by satisfying proof can show that he first conceived of the invention. "^[27]

The case was resolved in the U. S. Supreme Court by overturning most of Marconi's patents. At the time, the United States Army was involved in a patent infringement lawsuit with Marconi's company regarding radio, leading observers to posit that the government nullified Marconi's other patents to render moot claims for compensation (as, it is speculated, the government's initial reversal to grant Marconi the patent right in order to nullify any claims Tesla had for compensation). The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. In contrast to the United States system, Mr. Justice Parker of the British High Court of Justice upheld Marconi's "four-sevens" tuning patent. These proceedings made up only a part of a long series of legal struggles, as major corporations jostled for advantage in a new and important industry.

Continuing work

Over the years, the Marconi companies gained a reputation for being technically conservative, in particular by continuing to use inefficient spark-transmitter technology, which could only be used for radiotelegraph operations, long after it was apparent that the future of radio communication lay with continuous-wave transmissions, which were more efficient and could be used for audio transmissions. A continuous wave or continuous waveform ( CW) is an Electromagnetic wave of constant Amplitude and Frequency; and in Mathematical Somewhat belatedly, the company did begin significant work with continuous-wave equipment beginning in 1915, after the introduction of the oscillating vacuum tube (valve). In 1920, employing a vacuum tube transmitter, the Chelmsford Marconi factory was the location for the first entertainment radio broadcasts in the United Kingdom—one of these featured Dame Nellie Melba. Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. For the band see Broadcast (band Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or Video signals which transmit WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 &ndash 23 February 1931 born Helen Porter In 1922 regular entertainment broadcasts commenced from the Marconi Research Centre at Writtle. Marconi Research Centre is the former name of the current BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre facility at Great Baddow in Essex. The village of Writtle lies in Essex England, just two miles to the west of Chelmsford.

Later years

In 1914 Marconi was made a Senator in the Italian Senate and appointed Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in the UK. The Italian Senate ( Italian: Senato della Repubblica, 'Senate of the Republic' is the Upper house of the Parliament of Italy. During World War I, Italy joined the Allied side of the conflict, and Marconi was placed in charge of the Italian military's radio service. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All In 1924, he was made a marchese by King Victor Emmanuel III. A marquess (ˈmɑrkwɪs or marquis (/mɑrˈkiː/ is a Nobleman of hereditary rank in various European monarchies and some of their colonies Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele III 11 November, 1869 – 28 December, 1947) was a member of the House of Savoy and

Marconi joined the Italian Fascist party in 1923. The term Italian Fascism denotes the totalitarian Fascismo political movement that ruled Italy from 1922 until 1943 under leader Benito Mussolini In 1930, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini appointed him President of the Accademia d'Italia, which made Marconi a member of the Fascist Grand Council. The Accademia dei Lincei, (literally the " Academy of the Lynxes" but also known as the Lincean Academy) is an Italian science academy located The Grand Council of Fascism (Gran Consiglio del Fascismo was the main body of Mussolini 's Fascist government in Italy. Marconi was a participant in rallies that fostered fascist beliefs and composed fascist propaganda. Marconi also made speeches as an apologist for the actions of the fascist regime in Italy.

In 1935, Italian forces occupied the African nation of Ethiopia, resulting in near universal condemnation of Italy. See also First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Second Italo–Abyssinian War (also referred to as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) was a NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Marconi made numerous radio speeches supporting the unprovoked attack, notorious enough that the BBC banned him from speaking on the subject. Marconi was pro-war in the era between the First and Second World War, and he was condemned for such beliefs by many. ^[29]

Marconi died in Rome in 1937 at age 63 following a series of heart attacks, and Italy held a state funeral for him. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply As a tribute, all radio stations throughout the world observed two minutes of silence. His remains are housed in the Villa Griffone at Sasso Marconi, Emilia-Romagna, which assumed that name in his honour in 1938. Sasso Marconi is a town and Comune of the Province of Bologna in northern Italy, 17 kilometres SSW of Bologna. Emilia-Romagna is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Bologna.

Personal life and other facts

Family

• On 16 March 1905, Marconi married Beatrice O'Brien (1882-1976), daughter of Edward Donough O'Brien, 14th Baron Inchiquin, Ireland. Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Baron Inchiquin (pronounced "Inchquin" is one of the older titles in the Peerage of Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world They had three daughters (one of whom lived only a few weeks), and a son. They divorced in 1924 and the marriage was annulled in 1927.
• On 15 June 1927, Marconi married Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali (1900-1994) — they would have a single daughter. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
• Marconi's children were Degna (1908-1998), Gioia (1916-1996), Giulio (1910-1971), and Elettra (born 1930).
• Marconi had a brother, Alfonso, and a stepbrother, Luigi.

Miscellaneous

• When Marconi announced that he had discovered a principle through which he could send messages through air, his friends had him taken into custody and examined in a psychopathic hospital.
• Premier Benito Mussolini was Marconi's best man when he married his second wife in 1927. Participants in wedding ceremonies, also known as the wedding party, include the bride and groom (or bridegroom) the maid of honor ^[30][31]
• Marconi's Italian military service consisted of serving in the Italian Army (commissioned 1914 as Lieutenant) and the Italian Navy (Commander).
• The Bologna Airport (BLQ) is named after Guglielmo Marconi. Bologna Airport ( Aeroporto di Bologna) or Guglielmo Marconi Airport is an airport serving the city of Bologna in Italy.
• A Marconi memorial statue stands on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. A telegraph hill is a hill or other natural elevation chosen as part of an optical telegraph system because of the relatively great distance between it and at least one other The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city
• A section of the town of Copiague, USA, was once named Marconiville after Guglielmo Marconi. Copiague ( pronounced /KOH payg/ is a hamlet (and Census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. On Great Neck Road there is an old gate which still reads "Marconiville".
• Marconi Stallions, a football club in Australia is named after Guglielmo Marconi. The Marconi Stallions are an Australian Football (soccer club from Sydney, Australia. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered
• Villa Marconi, a retirement home located in Nepean, Ontario is named after Marconi. Climate Nepean has fairly warm summers The summer season goes from early June to early September Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec The home has a large Italian population.
• The Dutch radio academy bestows the Marconi Awards annually for outstanding radio programmes, presenters and stations.
• La Scuola D'Italia, a private Italian school in New York's Upper East Side, is named after Marconi.
• Marconi Avenue, a street on The Hill, St. Louis is named after Marconi. The Hill is a mostly Italian-American neighborhood within St Louis Missouri, located on high ground south of Forest Park. The neighborhood has a large Italian population.
• A commemorative British two pound coin was released in 2001 celebrating the 100th anniversary of Marconi's first wireless communication.
• In 1915 a friend of his, Mrs. Mary Cummins Brown of New York, perished in the sinking of the British luxury liner RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast, a fact he commented upon two days later in The New York Times

Patents

See also

• Invention of radio
• List of people on stamps of Ireland
• Jagdish Chandra Bose

Notes

Further reading

External links

General

• Guglielmo Marconi Foundation, Pontecchio Marconi, Bologna, Italy
• Canadian Heritage Minute featuring Marconi
• Guglielmo Marconi documentary narrated by Walter Cronkite
• Nobel Prize: Guglielmo Marconi biography
• Marconi Corporation's Marconi Calling
• Review of Signor Marconi's Magic Box
• Information about Marconi and his yacht Elettra
• Comitato Guglielmo Marconi International, Bologna, Italy
• I diari di laboratorio di Guglielmo Marconi
• Marconi il 5 marzo 1896, presenta a Londra la prima richiesta provvisoria di brevetto, col numero 5028 e col titolo "Miglioramenti nella telegrafia e relativi apparati"
• List of British and French patents (1896-1924)
• Sparks Telegraph Key Review An exhaustive listing of wireless telegraph key manufacturers including photos of most Marconi keys
• Cherished Television, Part one: The Pioneers
• Marconi Belmar station, InfoAge. (See also, Marconi Period of Significance Historic Buildings)
• Marconi on the 2000 Italian Lire banknote.
• Marconi's Use of Kites to Assist Wireless Communication [1]
• Marconi's Case File at The Franklin Institute with info about his 1918 Franklin Medal for application of radio waves to communications
• History of Marconi House
• Marconi Memorial in Washington, DC

Transatlantic "signals"

• BBC Reference to his first transmission over water
• Faking the Waves, 1901
• Marconi and His South Wellfleet Wireless (Cape Cod National Seashore

Priority of invention

vs Tesla

• PBS: Marconi and Tesla: Who invented radio?
• The Guglielmo Marconi Case Who is the True Inventor of Radio
• U. The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) is a Non-profit Public broadcasting Television service with 354 member TV stations in the S. Supreme Court, "Marconi Wireless Telegraph co. of America v. United States". 320 U. S. 1. Nos. 369, 373. Argued April 9-12, 1943. Decided June 21, 1943.
• 21st Century Books: Priority in the Invention of Radio — Tesla vs. Marconi

vs Popov

• Who started the electronic era?