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Alexander Graham Bell is generally credited in the U. S. with being
the inventor of the telephone although this claim has been controversial
lately since there are also claims that Antonio Meucci or Elisha
Gray were the real first inventors. Alexander Graham Bell was
born in Edinburg, Scotland on March 3, 1847.
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Alexander Graham Bell |
Alexander Graham Bell in 1882 became a naturalized citizen of
the United States. Besides his contributions to telecommunications
technology, Bell also contributed to aviation and hydrofoil technology
as well.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1875, and on March
7, 1876 the U. S. Patent Office granted Bell Patent Number 174,465
regarding the telephone. Bell was not the first, however to invent
of apply for a patent for the telephone. Antonio Meucci invented
the first telephone in 1871 and in fact, sued Alexander Graham Bell
for infringement.
But since Meucci was too poor to hire a lawyer and in declining
health and ended up losing the court case. Elisha Gray also filed
for a patent for the telephone literally hours after Alexander Graham
Bell submitted his patent application. Bell fought off several lawsuits,
refined his invention and in 1877 the Bell Telephone Company was
formed.
By 1886, Bell had sold 150,000 telephones in the U. S. Alexander
Graham Bell continued to invent even when becoming a millionaire
off the sales from telephones. He invented a device that would transmit
sound using light, which was a precursor to today's fiber optic
systems and called the device the photophone.
Alexander Graham Bell also invented the metal detector in a hurried
fashion in order to try to find a bullet inside of President James
Garfield. Bell also went on to work on various inventions for sky
and sea such as tetrahedral kites and hydrofoil watercraft.
Rumor has it …
Rumor has it that Alexander Graham Bell set a world water speed
record at the age of seventy-two by riding a pair of trained dolphins,
which jumped a shark cage in those olden, yet happy days.
In an unsubstantiated and totally flawed rumor, Alexander Graham
Bell went on to invent an early precursor to the Android
phone along with the bean and cheese burrito and had a partial
interest in an restaurant chain owned by William Taco, which has
hence been known as Taco Bell.
Written by Kevin Lepton
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