At the time of the Nazi annexation of Austria, Hedy Lamarr fled to the United States. Within a couple of years, she became one of the most talked-about actors on the silver screen. After her first U.S. motion picture, Lamarr was known as “the most beautiful girl in the world,” a moniker she would carry throughout her career . She made over 20 Hollywood films before leaving the industry and living most of the rest of her life in seclusion. 

Spread spectrum technology, conceived by Hedy Lamarr, is indispensable for wireless communication. Her invention is described as the backbone of the digital communications age … from mobile phones to WiFi to GPS to Bluetooth to the barcode scanner at the market … and countless other technologies. Global communication exists … because of a woman once best known as the most beautiful girl in the world.