Alexander Graham Bell: Biography and Is He Really the Inventor of the Telephone?
Alexander Graham Bell is known by people as the inventor of the telephone or telephone set. Alexander Graham Bell was an innovator. The telephone that he invented made him rich from the patent he received. But is it true that Alexander Graham Bell was the actual inventor of the telephone? Check out the story of the invention of the telephone and the following biography of Alexander Graham Bell.
Quick Info
| Full Name | Alexander Graham Bell |
| Date of Birth | March 3, 1847, Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Died | 2 August 1922, Beinn Bhreagh |
| Parents | Father – Alexander Melville Bell
Mother – Eliza Grace Symonds |
| Siblings | Edward Charles Bell, Melville James Bell |
| Wife | Mabel Gardiner Hubbard |
| Child | Marian Hubbard Bell, Elsie Bell, Robert Bell, Edward Bell |
| Known as | Telephone Inventor |
Alexander Graham Bell Biography
He did not receive much formal education, but he was well guided by his family and taught himself. That was the beginning of the life of Alexander Graham Bell, who was born in 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
His father was Alexander Melville Bell and his mother was Eliza Grace. Alexander has two brothers and a sister.
Bell’s interest in making telephone sets arose naturally because his father was an expert in vocal physiology, improving speech and teaching the deaf.
Found a Phone?
Bell went to Boston, America in 1871. It was there in 1875 that he made experiments that led to the invention of the telephone.
In the widely written biography of Alexander Graham Bell, it is known that he collected a patent to consolidate his discovery in February 1876. And from there he received a reward a few weeks later.
(It is interesting to note that another person named Elisha Gray also collected an invention patent for a similar device on the same day as Bell did, just a few hours apart).
Not long after receiving the patent, Bell displayed the telephone at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. His discovery attracted great public attention and he received awards for his work.
However, The Western Union Telegraph Company, which offered $100,000 for the invention of the device, refused to pay. Stay up-to-date with Deltsapure! Provide accurate and updated news for readers.
Telephone Development
Therefore, Bell and his friends, in July 1877, founded their own company, the ancestor of today’s American Telephone and Telegraph Company.
Telephones developed rapidly and began to be used by many people. Alexander Graham Bell later achieved commercial success thanks to the telephone. Currently AT & T is the largest business company in the world.
Bell and his wife, who in March 1879 held 15 percent of the company’s shares, apparently had no idea how fantastic the profits the company would receive.
Becoming Rich Thanks to the Telephone
In just seven months, they had sold most of their shares at an average price of $250 per share. In the following November the price had shot up to $1000 per share.
In 1881, they rashly sold another third of the remaining shares they owned. Even so, in 1883 they were able to make a profit of around one million dollars.
Want to Help Deaf People
Even though the invention of the telephone had made Bell rich, he never stopped continuing his research, and he succeeded in rediscovering various useful tools, although not as important as the telephone. His interests were varied, but his main goal was to help deaf people.
His own wife was a deaf girl who he trained himself. Four children, two sons and two daughters were born thanks to marriage but all four died young.
In the biography of Alexander Graham Bell, it is known that in 1882 Bell became a citizen of the United States and died in 1922. The size of Bell’s influence lies in assessing the size of the meaning of the telephone itself.
However, there are two things worth considering. First, although private telephone conversations may be possible via radio, it would be extremely difficult to replace our entire telephone system with an equivalent radio network.
Second, the basic method of retransmitting sound that Bell designed for telephone receivers was then taken over and used by radio receivers, phonograph records and various other types of equipment.
Alexander Graham Bell Wasn’t the Inventor of the Telephone?
It should be noted that Alexander Graham Bell was not the original inventor of the telephone set we know today. Many people think that he was the inventor of the telephone.
But the real truth is that Alexander Graham Bell stole the design from Antonio Meucci (please read Antonio Meucci – Original Inventor of the Telephone) and then patented it to gain financial benefits from his patent.
Antonio Meucci was an Italian immigrant who began developing telephone designs in 1849. In 1871, he applied for a patent regarding the invention of the telephone.
However, due to difficulties, Meucci was unable to renew the patent. And then Alexander Graham Bell started applying for patents for the invention of the telephone and made a lot of money from these patents.
Meanwhile, Antonio Meucci lived in poverty and hardship. As quoted from the loc.gov site, his role in the invention of the telephone by Antonio Meucci was ignored until the United States House of Representatives passed Congressional Resolution 107 H Res 269 on June 11 2002. Its content is to honor Meucci’s contributions and work as a telephone inventor.
