Monday, 31 December 2012
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Guglielmo Marconi
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Early years
Marconi was born in Bologna on 25 April 1874, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian landowner, and his Irish/Scots wife, Annie Jameson, daughter of Andrew Jameson of
Daphne Castle in County
Wexford, Ireland and granddaughter of John Jameson, founder of whiskey distillers Jameson & Sons. Marconi was educated privately in Bologna in the lab of Augusto Righi, in Florence at the Istituto Cavallero and, later, in Livorno. As a
child Marconi did not do well in school.[7] Baptized as a Catholic, he was also a member of the Anglican Church, being married into it; however, he still received a Catholic
annulment.
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". 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 and neighbour of Marconi who had done research on Hertz's
work.
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.
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. He
attained the rank of lieutenant in the Italian Army and of commander in the Italian Navy. In 1929, he
was made a marquess by King Victor
Emmanuel III.
Marconi joined the Italian Fascist party in 1923. In 1930, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini appointed him President of the Royal Academy of Italy, which made Marconi a member of the Fascist Grand Council.
Marconi died in Rome on 20 July 1937 at age 63, following a series of heart attacks, and Italy held a state funeral for him. As a tribute, all radio stations
throughout the world observed two minutes of silence on the next day. His
remains are housed in the Villa Griffone at Sasso Marconi, Emilia-Romagna, which assumed that name in his honour in 1938.
Honours and awards
·
In 1909, Marconi shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Braun for his contributions to radio communications.
·
In 1977, Marconi was inducted into the National
Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
·
In 1988, the Radio Hall of Fame (Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago) inducted Marconi as a Pioneer (soon
after the inception of its awards).
·
In 2001, Britain released a commemorative British two pound coin celebrating the 100th anniversary of Marconi's first wireless
communication.
·
Marconi's early experiments in wireless telegraphy
were the subject of two IEEE Milestones; one in
Switzerland in 2003 and most recently in Italy in 2011.
·
In 2009, Italy issued a commemorative silver 5 EURO
coin honouring the centennial of Marconi's Nobel Prize.
·
The Dutch radio academy bestows the Marconi Awards annually for
outstanding radio programmes, presenters and stations.
·
The National Association
of Broadcasters (US) bestows the annual NAB Marconi Radio Awards also for outstanding radio programs and stations.
Places and organizations named
after Marconi
Asia
People's
Republic of China
·
Marconi Road in Kowloon Tong, former home of many of Hong Kong's broadcasters, including Asia Television Limited and Television Broadcasts Limited
Europe
Ireland
·
Marconi Park, Ballycastle
Italy
·
Guglielmo Marconi Airport (IATA: BLQ – ICAO: LIPE), of Bologna, Italy, is
named after Marconi, its native son.
·
"Guglielmo Marconi" University in Rome, Italy.(Università degli Studi "Guglielmo
Marconi" di Roma).
·
Via Guglielmo Marconi in virtually all Italian
towns and villages
Sweden
United Kingdom
·
Marconi Road, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Oceania
Australia
United States
California
·
Marconi Conference Center and State Historic Park,
Marshall, California. Site of the transoceanic Marshall Receiving Station.
·
Marconi monument at Fulton intersection,
Sacramento, CA
Massachusetts
·
Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, located near the site of his first transatlantic wireless signal from the
U.S to England.
Missouri
New Jersey
·
Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Plaza in Somerset, NJ, located on the former site of the New Brunswick Marconi Station. President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points speech was transmitted from
the site in 1918.
·
Marconi Road in Wall Township, New Jersey, located in the former Camp Evans, which was the site of the Belmar Marconi Station and is now the location of the Infoage Science/History Learning Center, dedicated to the preservation and education of
information age technologies.
Ohio
Source:
Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi
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