You’ll never believe this but a long time ago telephones used to be attached to a wire plugged into the wall and you actually had to answer the phone before you knew who was calling you. Okay, that was just a joke. But it won’t be long until kids don’t know about life before cell phones.
But the whole idea of calling someone on the phone is due to a man with a great mustaches. Alexander Graham Bell is the subject of this episode of Great Mustaches in History.
Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent drawing, March 7, 1876.
Alexander Graham Bell is most famous for his invention of the telephone. You may not know this but his mother and wife were deaf. That is why he was so interested in sound. He experimented with sound a lot. He had one idea that really became an obsession. Telegraphs were the main way that people communicated over long distances in his day. Bell wanted to send more than dots and dashes. He wanted to send voices down the telegraph wire.
Bell convinced people to help fund his research. After he got funding he began working on inventing the telephone. On March 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words over the phone, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”
Several other people were working on the telephone. Bell invented the phone but had to race to the patent office because others were about to patent devices very similar to his telephone. Bell was first but not by much. But being first was all that mattered. His valuable patent changed the world. Alexander Graham Bell and his investors formed Bell Telephone Company in 1877. Of course there have been a lot of changes over the years. Bell telephone was split up but his company is known today as AT&T.
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He grew up in Scotland. His father was a professor and supervised his early education. Alexander Graham Bell later attended the University of Edinburgh.
Alexander Graham Bell did not just work on the telephone. He was interested in a lot of things and worked on lots of projects. He had many other inventions and did experimentation in many areas of science.
Here are a few of his other inventions.
Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago in 1892
The post GMIH-015 Alexander Graham Bell appeared first on Great Mustaches in History.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More