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David Edward Hughes (16 May 1831 – 22 January 1900) was an accomplished musician and a professor of music as well as chair of natural philosophy at a female seminary in Bardstown, Kentucky. He was born in London or Wales and immigrated to the United States as a young man. Hughes was also an experimental physicist, mostly in the areas of electricity and signals. He invented the carbon microphone and the induction balance (later used in metal detectors) and was the first to transmit and receive radio waves. Despite his facility as an experimenter, he had little mathematical training. He was a friend of William Henry Preece.
Eight years before Hertz or Marconi had demonstrated anything, Hughes was already the first person in the world to transmit and receive radio waves. At the time his work failed to satisfy colleagues’ demands for scientific method and proofs. His achievements went unrecognized for decades. Marconi knew Hughes through Preece. Sometime after 1896, Marconi befriended another Preece, both of them were experimenting with transmissions across the Conwy estuary. (This was the site where in 1918 a transmission of Morse signals was sent across the world to Australia.) There is some speculation that Marconi actually adopted some of Hughes ideas which he obtained through Preece.
He patented his telegraph system in the United States in 1855, and in less than two years, a number of small telegraph companies, including Western Union in early stages of development, united to form one large corporation — Western Union Telegraph Co. to carry on the business of telegraphy on the Hughes system. In Europe, Hughes’ Telegraph System became an international standard.
Music
At an early age, Hughes developed such musical ability that he is reported to have attracted attention of Herr Hast, an eminent German pianist in America who procured for him a professorship of music at St. Joseph’s College in Bardstown, Kentucky.
Awards
He became one of the highest decorated inventors of his time. Honors included a Grand Gold Medal in 1867 awarded at the Paris Exhibition, the Royal Society gold Medal in 1885, and The Albert Gold Medal, Society of Arts in 1897. For his numerous inventions and discoveries, especially the Printing Telegraph and Microphone, Napoleon III awarded him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour awarding him Commander of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour. He also was awarded: The Order of Saint Meurice and Saint Lazare (Italy), The Order of the Iron Crown (Austria) which carried with it the title of Baron, The Order of Saint Anne (Russia), The Noble Order of Saint Michael (Bavaria), Commander of the Imperial Order of the Grand Cross of the Medjidie (Turkey), Commander of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Carlos III (Spain), The Grand Officer’s Star and Collar of the Royal Order of Takovo (Servia), and Officer of the Royal Order of Leopold (Belgium).
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1831 births | 1900 deaths
"David E. Hughes"