In London, the places where famous people lived are marked with Blue Plaques. I knew that Marconi's name was on the list, but I had never actually seen his plaque. When we were up in London last month we were staying in Marconi's old neighbourhood (Bayswater) so and Billy and I decided to take a look. Video by Billy.
This house is mentioned in the book Thunderstruck by Eric Larson and in Peter Jensen's wonderful Early Radio. Marconi lived here as a young man. His mother took him to London in order to get patent protection for his wireless invention. The way in which Marconi's mom watched out for her son's intellectual property rights reminds me of the way Bill Gates' dad watched out for his.
Marconi's arrival in the UK was a bit difficult. British customs officers were apparently very suspicious of the strange device being brought in by the young Italian. One book hinted that they might have thought that Marconi was involved in some plot to kill Queen Victoria. During the inspection serious damage was done to Marconi's rig.
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Nice work, Billy.
ReplyDeleteI like the number on the door
ReplyDeleteAnd we complain about airline security personnel casting a jaundiced eye at our radio gear?
ReplyDelete73 from The Land of Fruits and Nuts,
Steve Smith WB6TNL
"Snort Rosin"
Great! We were staying near Fulham/Hammersmith in 2007 (Dawes Rd to be exact). Remember hopping on a bus, getting off by H. park and wandering around that very neighbourhood you are visiting. I would love to go back and see number 73!
ReplyDelete