April 25th, we observe National Telephone Day. Around the world, there are over 9.82 billion mobile phones. And while some predicted the landline to be obsolete by
2020, there are still about 931 million landlines
around the world.
February 14, 1876, Marcellus Bailey, one of Bell’s attorneys, rushed into the U.S. Patent office in Boston to file the patent for what would be the telephone.
Later the same day, Elisha Gray filed a patent caveat for a similar device. A caveat is an intent to file for a patent.
There was also a third contender. Antonio Meucci filed a caveat in
November of 1871 for a talking telegraph but failed to renew the caveat due to hardships.
Because Bell submitted his record first, the patent office awarded Bell the patent on March 7, 1876. Gray contested this decision in court, but without success.
Born March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Bell taught at a boys’ boarding school. The sounds of speech were an integral part of his life. His father
developed a “Visible Speech” system for deaf students to communicate. Bell would later become a friend and benefactor of Helen Keller.
Three days after the patent was approved, Bell spoke the first words by
Three days after the patent was approved, Bell spoke the first words by telephone to his assistant. “Mr. Watson, come here! I want to see you!”
By May, Bell and his team stood prepared for a public demonstration. And there would be no better place than the grand stage of the World’s Fair in Philadelphia. On May 10, 1876, in a crowded Machinery Hall, a man’s voice transmitted from a small horn and carried out through a speaker to the audience. One year later, the White House installed its first phone. The telephone revolution began.
Bell Telephone Company
was founded on July 9, 1877, and they installed the first public telephone lines from Boston to Sommerville, Massachusetts, the same year. By the end of the decade, nearly 50,000 phones existed in the United States. In May of 1967, phone companies across the country installed the 100 millionth telephone line.