Marconi & Mussolini. Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi (centre left, wearing medals, 1874-1937) and the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (centre, 1883-1945). Marconi is best known as the inventor of the radio. He developed his first radio equipment by the age of 21. Its range was about 1.5 km and attracted the interest of the British government. Marconi patented his system in Britain in 1897. In 1899, he made the first transmission across the English Channel and in 1901, the first transatlantic transmission. In 1909, Marconi won the Nobel physics prize. This picture was taken at the Italian Royal Academy, which Mussolini became president of in 1930.