Marconi
WILLIAM (-kōnē), an Anglo-Italian electrician; born in Griffone, near Bologna, Italy, April 25, 1874. His mother was an English woman.
He became a student of electrical science at 14, and began experimenting in wireless telegraphy in 1895. His first English exhibition was given in 1896, and was private. In 1903 a message was sent by President Roosevelt from Cape Cod, Mass., to King Edward VII. at Poldhu- 3,000 miles. A commercial service was opened between Ireland and Nova Scotia in March, 1907. The Marconi station at Argentina sent and received messages over 7,000 miles. Mr. Marconi introduced a persistent wave system and instruments to give desired forms to dispatched wave energy. He improved the detector, and in 1910 developed a new receiver and a duplex that sent and received messages without conflicting. Marconi has been decorated by Great Britain, Spain, Russia, and Italy. Elected to the Italian Chamber, at the outbreak of the World War he was appointed Director of the Italian Wireless Telegraph Department. See WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. MARCUS AURELIUS. See AURELIUS.