In German-speaking nations, November 9, the birthday of glamorous Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, is their "Inventors' Day" or Tag der Erfinder. Patent Attorney Stephen Albainy-Jenei explains at Patent Baristas in this week's Blawg Review.

Composer George Antheil and Lamarr submitted a patent application for a secret communication system in June 1941. On August 11, 1942, U.S. Patent 2,292,387 was granted to Antheil and “Hedy Kiesler Markey”, Lamarr’s married name at the time. This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam.

Argentina marks Inventors' Day, their Día del Inventor, on September 29, the birthday of national hero Laszlo Biro, inventor of the ballpoint pen or, as many outside the US call it, a "biro".

Do any other countries celebrate inventors with a special day?

One of the outstanding geniuses in the history of technology, Thomas Edison earned patents for more than a thousand inventions, including the incandescent electric lamp, the phonograph, the carbon telephone transmitter, and the motion-picture projector. In addition, he created the world's first industrial research laboratory.