🔍 Historical Hacks: Marconi vs. The Magician
In 1903, Guglielmo Marconi was set to test his new wireless, secure telegraph system. The demo was a big deal, as it would transmit a message securely and wirelessly 300 miles away. However, just as the test was to begin, something was amiss. Marconi began receiving messages that weren’t too flattering, sent as a prank by Nevil Maskelyne, an employee of a rival wireless company.
This prank set off a war of words between the Magician and the Inventor in the newspapers of the time. While the prank didn’t affect Marconi’s reputation much, it did show an inherent vulnerability in his claim of a secure wireless transmission system.
Stay tuned for more fascinating stories like this in my new “Historical Hacks” series.