Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy".As an entrepreneur, businessman, and founder of the The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company in Britain in 1897, Marconi succeeded in making a commercial success of radio by innovating and building on the work of previous experimenters and physicists. In 1924, he was ennobled as Marchese Marconi.

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 1918, he was awarded the Franklin Institute's Franklin Medal.

·         In 1929, he was made a marquess by King Victor Emmanuel III., thus becoming Marchese Marconi.

·         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.

·         In 2009, he was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

·         The Dutch radio academy bestows the Marconi Awards annually for outstanding radio programmes, presenters and stations.

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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

·         Marconi Park, Enniscorthy

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

·         Marconigatan, Gothenburg

United Kingdom

·         Marconi Centre, Chelmsford

·         Marconi Gardens, Brentwood

·         Marconi Road, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

·         Marconi Road, Leyton, London E10

Oceania

Australia

·         Australian soccer club Marconi Stallions

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

·         Marconi Avenue in Sacramento, California.

·         Marconi memorial statue on Telegraph Hill, San Francisco

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

·         Marconi Avenue, The Hill, St. Louis

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

·         Marconi Boulevard in Columbus, Ohio.

 

Source:

Link:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi