Marconi, Guglielmo

Guglielmo Marchese Marconi (1874-1937) is an Italian electrical engineer who became famous for his experiments with radiocommunications. Marconi is one of the inventors of the radio transmitter. Marconi started to experiment in 1895 with the new electromagnetic waves who were discoverd by the German physicist Heinrich Hertz. Later that year, he developed a radio transmitter that sent radio signals over a distance of about 1.5 kilometres.

Marconi

He performed in 1897 experiments between two Italian warships outside the port of Spezia, and managed to exchange radio messages at a distance of 22 km. The Italian ministry of Post and Telegraphy did not see much advantages over the wired telegraph. Marconi decided to go the United Kingdom.

Marconi continued his experiments in England where he on Christmas Eve 1898 established contact by radio telegraphy between East Goodwin lightship and South Foreland Lighthouse in South East England. On 3 March 1899 the steamship “R F Matthews” collided with the lightship, which alarmed the lighthouse ashore to get assistance. This was the first time ever a distress call was transmitted by radio from at ship at sea!

One of his first customers of Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Ltd was the British navy. They bought radio equipment for their war fleet.

In 1901 he established contact between England and Newfoundland, over the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1909, Marconi shared the Noble Prize in physics with the German physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun.

Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy.