Photo: MGM / Clarence Bull, Public domain — Source
Austrian-American actress and inventor who co-developed a frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system during World War II. Alongside composer George Antheil, she patented the technology in 1942 to help Allied torpedoes resist jamming. Largely ignored at the time, the principles behind their invention became foundational to modern wireless communications including Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. A major Hollywood star of the 1930s-40s who appeared in films like Samson and Delilah, her scientific contributions were only recognized late in life. She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014, fourteen years after her death.
Source: National Women's History Museum