Alexander Graham Bell
Scottish Inventor

1847 -1922

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in
Edinburgh, Scotland. Bell is best known for his invention
of the telephone.  Many inventors had been working on
the idea of sending human speech by wire, but Bell was
the first to succeed.

The invention of the telephone grew out of improvements
Bell had made to the telegraph. He had developed the
"harmonic telegraph" which could send more than one
message at a time over a single telegraph wire. Bell
reasoned that it would be possible to pick up all the sounds
of the human voice using an adaptation of the "harmonic
telegraph." In 1875, along with his assistant Thomas A.
Watson, Bell constructed instruments that transmitted
recognizable voice-like sounds.

Bell's first telephone patent was granted on March 7, 1876.
Three days later he and Watson, located in different rooms,
were about to test the new type of transmitter described in
his patent. Watson heard Bell's voice saying, "Mr. Watson,
come here. I want you." Bell had upset a battery, spilling
acid on his clothing. He soon forgot the accident in his
excitement over the success of the telephone transmitter.
The first telephone company, Bell Telephone Company,
was founded on July 9, 1877.

After inventing the telephone, Bell continued his experiments
in communication. He invented the photophone-transmission
of sound on a beam of light, the precursor of fiber-optics. He
also invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. Bell
was granted 18 patents in his name, and 12 he shared with
collaborators. Alexander Graham Bell died in Baddek, Nova
Scotia, on August 2, 1922.