William Marconi.
This is eminently the age of young men, and William Marconi is a case in point. He was born at Marzabotto, Italy, September 23, 1875, his father being an Italian and his mother an Englishwoman. After being educated at the universities of Bologna and Padua, he, at a very early age, began to evidence a liking for scientific pursuits. Happily for the world at large, Marconi’s father was so placed financially that he could permit of his son following his inclinations to the utmost. After some preliminary work, young Marconi instituted a series of experiments in order to test the theory, which at that time was a theory only, that electric currents under certain conditions are able to pass through any known substance. The result was that when but fifteen years of age he invented an apparatus for wireless telegraphy, which attracted the attention of Sir William Henry Preece, engineer and electrician-in-chief of the English postal service. The apparatus was tested in England and with success. For the next few years Marconi was engaged in perfecting his system. Public attention was called to his further successes in 1897 by messages being sent from Queen Victoria on land to the Prince of Wales (now King Edward), some miles distant on the Royal yacht. Later the British government engaged Marconi to install a number of wireless stations around the southern coast of England, and from that time on, wireless telegraphy has become an accepted fact with civilized governments all the world over. He came to this country in 1889, where he made more experiments and organized and incorporated a company for the commercial use of his methods. At the present writing messages have been successfully sent between England and America, a greater number of liners are equipped with the Marconi apparatus, and the same remark applies to the warships of the United States and European powers.