The International Telecommunications Union celebrates Marconi in Salvan, Switzerland

Thes Words pronounced forty years ago by Maurice Gay- Balmaz, opened the lecture series at the unveiling of the commemorative plaque installed on September 26, 2008, by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union). The words describe prosaically Gay-Balmaz\´s first encounter with Guglielmo, Marconi, who carried out major experiments in wireless telegraphy in Salvan during the summer of 1895. Exactly five years after the inauguration on the same spot of an IEEE Milestone [1], the ITU recognized the site of Salvan for its invaluable contribution in "Telecommunication Heritage" (Figure 1). (The announcement of this recognition by the ITU created some turmoil in Italian newspapers, as the Lady Mayor of the little town of Sasso Marconi felt that, instead of Salvan, the ITU should have recognized the Villa Griffone in Pontecchio, where Marconi carried out his very first attic experiments. We were very pleased to have nice Italian Figure 1. The ITU Commemorative plaque installed reporters covering the event in Salvan.)