Today is Hedy Lamarr’s 107th birthday.

Or, at least it would be, if she were still alive.

But, it’s a birthday that is still celebrated throughout the world – albeit, in a rather low-key fashion – by radio amateurs.

So, why would a load of nerdy radio hams celebrate the life of a 1940’s Hollywood actress?

She became most famous for her role as Delilah, playing opposite Victor Mature’s Samson  in Cecil B DeMille’s masterpiece “Samson & Delilah” and at the time, she was touted the most beautiful woman in cinema.

But, what many people don’t realise, is that she was also an inventor.

She invented several things, but is most famously known (among the cognoscente) for inventing a radio guidance system for torpedoes during the second World War.

The system used a technique known as Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum and was developed as a way for the Allies to remotely control their torpedoes without the enemy being able to jam them.

Although they patented this system in 1942, the US Navy only started installing an updated version of it in the 1960s, after the patent had run out, so Lamarr never received a penny in royalties.

More importantly, the principle behind FHSS went on to become the basis of more modern radio techniques that we all use today, such as Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and mobile phone transmissions.

So, perhaps it should be all of us wishing Hedy Lamarr a Happy Birthday, and not just a bunch of nerdy radio hams.