What was the invention meant to protect?

Radio-guided torpedoes from jamming

What does frequency hopping mean?

Switching rapidly among radio frequencies

Hedy Lamarr Quiz: Film Star and Frequency Hopping Inventor

This hedy lamarr quiz moves from movie sets to radio waves. Play 10 interactive questions on the Austrian-born actress, films like Algiers, teaming with composer George Antheil, a 1942 patent for frequency hopping to stop torpedoes being jammed, synchronization inspired by piano rolls, the US Navy shelving the idea, its later role in spread spectrum and Hall of Fame honors.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Born
Where was Hedy Lamarr born?
Career
What was Lamarr's main career?
Partner
Who co-invented frequency hopping with her?
Year
When was their patent granted?
Use
What was the invention meant to protect?
Hop
What does frequency hopping mean?
Piano
What inspired the synchronization?
Navy
How did the US Navy respond at the time?
Today
Which modern technologies use related spread-spectrum ideas?
Honor
Which honor did Lamarr receive in 2014?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where was Hedy Lamarr born?
Answer: Vienna, Austria
In 1914.
Q2: What was Lamarr's main career?
Answer: Film actress
A Hollywood star.
Q3: Who co-invented frequency hopping with her?
Answer: Composer George Antheil
A musician.
Q4: When was their patent granted?
Answer: 1942
During the Second World War.
Q5: What was the invention meant to protect?
Answer: Radio-guided torpedoes from jamming
A military idea.
Q6: What does frequency hopping mean?
Answer: Switching rapidly among radio frequencies
Hard to jam.
Q7: What inspired the synchronization?
Answer: Player piano rolls
Antheil's musical idea.
Q8: How did the US Navy respond at the time?
Answer: It did not adopt the idea
Later it was developed.
Q9: Which modern technologies use related spread-spectrum ideas?
Answer: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Wireless communication.
Q10: Which honor did Lamarr receive in 2014?
Answer: National Inventors Hall of Fame
Posthumously.

Film Star and Inventor

Hedy Lamarr was born in Vienna in 1914 and became a Hollywood film star in movies such as Algiers. Away from the cameras, she loved inventing and tinkering.

During the Second World War she teamed with composer George Antheil to design a way to stop radio-guided torpedoes from being jammed. Their idea, frequency hopping, switched rapidly among radio frequencies in a pattern known only to sender and receiver, with synchronization inspired by player piano rolls. They were granted a patent in 1942.

The US Navy did not adopt the idea then, but related spread-spectrum techniques later became part of wireless communication such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

What This Quiz Teaches

Tech history fans will enjoy these questions.

Who Lamarr was
Whom she worked with
What she invented
Why it mattered
How she is honored

Did You Know?

She sold war bonds during the war.
She received a Pioneer Award in 1997.
Her story was told in a 2017 documentary.
Google honored her with a Doodle.
She was largely self-taught in engineering.