This Day in History: 1851-06-12

1851 – Wilsford-cum-Lake – OLIVER JOSEPH LODGE, British Physicist and Inventor was born in Staffordshire.  He was resident of Normanton House from 1920 until his death.  He is buried in the churchyard of St. Michael.  His works included research and advancement into radio, inventing the dynamic loudspeaker and also identified electromagnetic radiation independent of Hertz’s proof.  He was also a pioneer of spiritualism, holding the belief that his son who was killed in WWI was communicating with him via a medium.  He collated these messages into a best selling book entitled Raymond; or Life and Death published in 1916.  He was father to 16 children including poet and author Oliver William Foster Lodge and Alexander Marshall Lodge, an inventor who made advancements in spark plug development.