Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi was born in 1874 in Bologna, Italy. Guglielmo Marconi's background is described as Italian father, Irish mother of the Jameson whiskey family. Growing up, the family was affluent — landowner father; his Irish mother backed the experiments and took him to England. Rome ignored his attic experiments; his mother's whiskey-family connections opened London instead.

Born

1874 · Bologna, Italy

Roots

Italian father, Irish mother of the Jameson whiskey family

Family

Affluent

Landowner father; his Irish mother backed the experiments and took him to England.

Education

Private tutors; failed the University of Bologna entrance exam

Started with

An attic lab

Experiments on his father's estate; when Italy showed no interest, his mother's connections opened London.

Affiliations & societies

National Fascist PartyDocumented

Joined in 1923; Mussolini later made him president of the Royal Academy of Italy and a Grand Council member.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1894 · age 20
   The attic at Villa Griffone

   Reads of Hertz's death and begins wireless experiments; a rifle shot over the hill confirms the first out-of-sight transmission.

2. 1896 · age 21
   London

   Files the first wireless-telegraphy patent; the Post Office's chief engineer sponsors demonstrations.

3. 1901 · age 27
   Across the Atlantic

   Receives the letter "S" in Newfoundland from Cornwall, against predictions that the Earth's curvature made it impossible.

4. 1909 · age 35
   Nobel Prize in Physics

   Shared with Karl Ferdinand Braun.

5. 1912 · age 38
   Titanic

   Survivors owe their rescue to wireless; Marconi operators stayed at their keys.

6. 1937 · age 63
   Dies in Rome

   Radio stations worldwide observe two minutes of silence.