Alexander Graham Bell

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Barbara J. Feldman

Alexander Graham Bell was born March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. March is also the anniversary of his most famous invention: the telephone. In 1875, after receiving a patent for the transmission of multiple telegraph signals on a single wire, Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson, set out to invent the telephone. Success came on March 10, 1876.

American Experience: The Telephone: More About Bell

4 stars

This PBS site tells the amazing story of Bell's prodigious talents and the empire he created. At the age of fourteen, Bell "was mesmerized by a demonstration of Sir Charles Wheatstone's speaking machine" he saw in London. Upon their return to Edinburgh, Bell and his older brother successfully created a model of their own: a facsimile mouth, throat, nose, maneuverable tongue, and bellow lungs that produced human-like sounds.

AT&T History: Inventing the Telephone

3 stars

From the corporate annals of AT&T, this page offers a brief biography of Bell and a short history of his famous invention. After the patent filing of February 14, 1876, Bell returned to his labs in Boston and continued his work on the telephone. The next summer, Bell and his backers created the Bell Telephone Company (the predecessor of today's AT&T.) The very first customers were typically businessmen who wanted a phone line to connect their home and their office.

CBC.com: Ten Greatest Canadians: Alexander Graham Bell

3 stars

Nominated in 2004 as one of Canada's favorite sons, Bell moved to Canada at the age of twenty- three, then to Boston a few years later. This page tells Bell's story, with emphasis on the time he spent in Canada. After creating the Bell Telephone Company, Bell built a summer home called Beinn Bhreagh in Nova Scotia, because the landscape reminded him of his childhood in Scotland. "Free from financial constraints, he devoted the remainder of his life to inventing, and many of his most inspired creations were developed at Beinn Bhreagh."

Library of Congress: Everyday Mysteries

4 stars

"Who is credited as inventing the telephone? Was it Alexander Graham Bell, Elisha Gray, or Antonio Meucci?" This Library of Congress site answers the complicated question of why Bell is credited with the invention of the telephone, even though Gray and Mesucci were working on similar devices at the same time. "So, if someone asks who is credited with inventing the telephone, you can explain the controversy that still surrounds this question. The answer is Bell, but be sure to mention Meucci and Gray, because they played important roles in its development."

Telephony Museum: Alexander Graham Bell

5 stars

The Bell biography at The Telephony Museum is the most extensive of today's bios, and an excellent resource for school reports. It is divided into three sections: Early Years, Telephone/Marriage Years, and Final Years. Other worthwhile clicks include Telephone History and Telephone Instruments. You'll find both of these from the History link in the nav bar.