Guglielmo Marconi
1874–1937 · Italian · Gilded Age / Early Modern
Known for: Developed practical radio communication and sent the first transatlantic radio signal
Guglielmo Marconi turned Hertz's laboratory curiosity into a world-changing technology: radio. In 1901, he transmitted the first wireless signal across the Atlantic Ocean—the letter 'S' in Morse code from Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.
He was more businessman than scientist—he didn't invent radio so much as he commercialized it. He was a skilled self-promoter who built the Marconi Company into a global telecommunications empire. His technology saved lives during the Titanic disaster.
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