Marconi's First Wireless Telegraphy Transmission

In 1895, twenty-year-old Guglielmo Marconi conducted wireless telegraphy experiments at Villa Griffone in Pontecchio, Italy, building on Heinrich Hertz's demonstration of electromagnetic waves. Working in his family home, Marconi progressively increased transmission range by raising antenna height and grounding both transmitter and receiver. By summer 1895, he transmitted signals over two kilometers beyond the Celestini hill. Unable to secure Italian government interest, Marconi traveled to England in 1896, where he obtained a patent for wireless telegraphy and founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company in 1897.