Born on November 9
Hedy Lamarr's Birthday
A screen star with an inventor's mind.
Next: November 9, 2026
Where it comes from
Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Kiesler in Vienna on 9 November 1914 and became a star of Hollywood's golden age, in films such as Ziegfeld Girl and Samson and Delilah. In 1940, with the composer George Antheil, she set out to stop enemies jamming radio-guided torpedoes.
How it's celebrated
There is no organised observance. People can mark it by watching one of her films, or by reading her patent, which is freely available online. She was inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014, and Google marked what would have been her 101st birthday in 2015 with an animated Doodle.
Did you know
The patent borrowed from the player piano: matching punched paper rolls at the transmitter and in the torpedo would switch between up to 88 frequencies, the number of keys on a piano.
Read the full story of Hedy Lamarr's Birthday
Star sign
Scorpio · October 23 – November 21 · Water sign
Intense and private, with a loyalty that runs deep.