Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. Issued to and signed by Alfonso Marconi - 1913 dated Autograph Stock Certificate - A Year After The Titanic Sinking

Stock printed by American Bank Note Company, New York. Issued to and signed at back by Alfonso Marconi. Alfonso Marconi, born in 1865, was the firstborn son of Giuseppe and Annie Marconi and the sibling of Guglielmo. He played a significant role in Guglielmo's initial experiments, notably firing the shot that signified success when Marconi successfully transmitted signals over a hill in 1895 at Villa Griffone. Alfonso was employed by his brother's enterprise and held the position of director at the American International Marine Communication Company. He passed away on April 25, 1936, in London.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger ship operated by the White Star Line, which tragically sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during its inaugural journey from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Out of approximately 2,224 individuals on board, over 1,500 lost their lives, marking it as the most catastrophic sinking of a single vessel at that time. It continues to be recognized as the deadliest peacetime sinking involving a superliner or cruise ship.

The tragedy captured widespread public interest, laid the groundwork for the disaster film genre, and has inspired numerous artistic endeavors. Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi FRSA (April 25, 1874 – July 20, 1937), was an Italian inventor and electrical engineer renowned for developing a practical wireless telegraph system based on radio waves. This achievement earned Marconi the title of the inventor of radio, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909, which he shared with Karl Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy."

The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, often referred to as American Marconi, was founded in 1899 as a subsidiary of the British Marconi Company. It possessed the exclusive rights to Guglielmo Marconi's radio patents in both the United States and Cuba. Initially, American Marconi concentrated on operating high-powered land stations and transatlantic shipboard stations. In 1912, the company acquired the assets of the defunct United Wireless Telegraph Company, thereby establishing itself as the foremost provider of radio communications in the United States.

During World War I, the U.S. government assumed control of the radio industry, and following the war, it hesitated to return American Marconi's stations to British ownership due to concerns regarding national security. Under the influence of the U.S. Navy, the government urged the Marconi companies to transfer ownership of American Marconi to an American entity. In 1919, General Electric acquired the assets of American Marconi, which laid the groundwork for the establishment of its new subsidiary, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

The British parent organization, initially established as the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, Limited, in London on July 20, 1897, was created to advance Marconi's radio innovations. In March 1900, it was renamed Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Limited (commonly referred to as "British Marconi") and aimed to broaden its international presence by forming subsidiaries that would possess regional rights to the Marconi patents. The first of these subsidiaries, American Marconi, was incorporated in New Jersey on November 8, 1899, and was granted exclusive rights to employ the Marconi patents within the United States, as well as in the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippine Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands.

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