The Telephone

Introduction

There is a lot of controversy and intrigue surrounding the invention of the telephone. There have been court cases, books, and articles generated about the subject. Of course, Alexander Graham Bell is the father of the telephone. After all it was his design that was first patented, however, he was not the first inventor to come up with the idea of a telephone.

Early research & developments

The initial inventor of the Telephone was Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant. He began developing the design of a talking telegraph or telephone in 1849. In 1871, he filed a caveat (an announcement of an invention) for his design of a talking telegraph. Due to a lack of finances, however, Meucci could not renew his caveat. Two years later Bell, who shared a laboratory with Meucci, filed a patent for a telephone, and made a fortune on the revolutionary device.

To make matters even more interesting Elisha Gray, a professor at Oberlin College, applied for a caveat of the telephone on the same day Bell applied for his patent of the telephone. The date was February 14, 1876. Alexander Graham Bell was the fifth entry of that day, while Gray was 39th. Therefore, the U.S. Patent Office awarded Bell with the first patent for a telephone, US Patent Number 174,465 rather than honour Gray's caveat.

Alexander Graham Bell and “his” Telephone

The telephone was actually discovered by Alexander Graham Bell accidentally in his attempts to improve the telegraph. The telegraph was a highly successful system with its dot-and-dash Morse code, but it was basically limited to receiving and sending one message at a time. Bell's extensive knowledge of the nature of sound and his understanding of music enabled him to conjecture the possibility of transmitting multiple messages over the same wire at the same time. Although the idea of a multiple telegraph had been in existence for some time, Bell offered his own harmonic approach as a possible practical solution. His "harmonic telegraph" was based on the principle that several notes could be sent simultaneously along the same wire if the notes or signals differed in pitch

However, lacking the time and skill to make the equipment for these experiments he enlisted the help of Thomas A. Watson from a nearby electrical shop. The two became good friends and worked together on the tedious experimentation to produce sounds over the "harmonic telegraph." It was on June 2, 1875, while Bell was at one end of the line and Watson worked on the reeds of the telegraph in another room that he heard the sound of a plucked reed coming to him over the wire.

By March 1876 they had managed to make a transmission, but the sound was very faint. However, by March 7, 1876 Bell had successfully obtained an Official Patent for his telephone. Three days later this revolutionary device carried its first intelligible sentence in the rented top floor of a Boston boarding house at 109 Court Street, Boston. Speaking through the instrument to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in the next room, Bell utters these famous first words, "Mr. Watson -- come here -- I want to see you."

By July 9, 1877, however, the telephone had become a business, named The Bell Telephone Company. It was organized in Boston, Massachusetts by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard. However, on March 20, 1880 after merging with other companies and receiving the financial backing from Thomas Sanders, The Bell Telephone Company changed to form the American Bell Telephone Company. Subsequently, this business would later evolve into the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), at times the world's largest telephone company.

Did You Know?

Though he is credited with its invention, Alexander Graham Bell refused to have a telephone in his study, fearing it would distract him from his scientific work.