http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/07/21/hedy_narrowweb__300x395,0.jpgHedy Lamarr was a 1940s screen siren - brunette, ravishing, a talented actress ... and inventor of frequency hopping, which is used to this day to allow military planes to remotely control torpedoes they have dispatched.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/behind-the-it-calendar-kerfuffle/2006/07/19/1153166452430.html------------------
Lamarr's and Antheil's frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, such as COFDM used in Wi-Fi network connections and CDMA used in some cordless and wireless telephones.<7> Blackwell, Martin, and Vernam's 1920 patent Secrecy Communication System (1598673) seems to lay the communications groundwork for Kiesler and Antheil's patent which employed the techniques in the autonomous control of torpedoes.
Lamarr wanted to join the National Inventors Council, but she was told that she could better help the war effort by using her celebrity status to sell War Bonds. She once raised $7,000,000 at just one event.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr