How it began
At the age of 20 Guglielmo Marconi began experimenting with radio waves in the attic of Villa Griffone, his family's home at Pontecchio near Bologna, now in the municipality of Sasso Marconi. He built much of his own equipment, helped by his butler, Mignani. In the summer of 1895 he moved the experiments outdoors onto his father's estate and tried different arrangements of the apparatus.
How it works
Marconi's key improvement was a vertical antenna connected to a buried metal plate, forming an antenna and earth system. With it the signal could pass over hills. In one outdoor trial at Villa Griffone it reached beyond the Celestini hill, about 2 km away, despite the hill standing between transmitter and receiver.
How it spread
Marconi took the system abroad. On 13 May 1897 he sent the first wireless communication over open sea, across the Bristol Channel from Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point near Cardiff, a distance of 3 miles. In November 1899 he sailed for England on the liner Saint Paul, and he and his assistants installed wireless equipment aboard during the voyage.
Where it stands today
Villa Griffone, where the first experiments were made, is the site of the Mausoleum of Guglielmo Marconi, built by the architect Marcello Piacentini. Marconi's body was moved there in 1941. Columbia University's account of his work dates the first wireless message to the experiments at the villa.
