Philo T. Farnsworth conceived the idea of television looking at a farm field when he was a teenager and later he brought his vision to life.

Today would have been Hedy Lamarr’s birthday. Not only was she an incredibly successful film actress from Hollywood’s Golden Age, Hedy was also a crack mathematician and engineer responsible for inventing one of the base technologies that made cellular phones, Bluetooth and WiFi possible.

Lamarr co-invented the first realization of spread-spectrum technology  that initially provided for more secure electromagnetic communication but something that was later refined for use in cell phones, 802.11 WiFi and Bluetooth.  In those later technologies, the ability to change channels without missing a beat is a requirement, one because it allows mobility as a signal weakens and another becomes available, but also so that interference can be minimizes.  For example, if you and your friend are both using Channel 11 on a WiFi connection, one of you will automatically switch to another channel so that your communications are not canceled out.

In 1962, the U.S. army recognized Lamarr’s genius, using her invention in military ships against a Cuban blockade. Variations on the technology are now standard. Heard of CDMA cell phone networks like those that Sprint and Verizon run? They work a lot like the “secret communications system” Lamarr and Anthiel envisioned.
The Atlantic: Hedy Lamarr’s Secret Communications System

Lamarr is proof that one can have talents in many realms and that the old cliché of “brains or beauty” is absolute BS.