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.