Guglielmo Marconi

At 20, sends radio signals across his father's estate near Bologna, ringing a bell 1.5 kilometers away. The Italian government isn't interested. His mother takes him to London, where the British Post Office is.

Founds the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company in London at 23. Patents keep coming. He transmits signals across the English Channel in 1899. The distance keeps growing.

Claims to receive the first transatlantic radio signal in St. John's, Newfoundland. The letter "S" (three dots in Morse code) is sent from Poldhu, Cornwall, 2,200 miles away. Scientists insist it's impossible. He does it again.

Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics with Ferdinand Braun "for their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy." He is 35. The Titanic's distress signal three years later proves the life-saving value of his technology. 712 passengers are rescued because the Carpathia has a Marconi wireless.

Dies of heart failure in Rome at 63. Italy gives him a state funeral. Radio stations around the world observe two minutes of silence. The airwaves he filled go quiet for him.