Who invented the telephone?
Quick answer
Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. He received the US patent on March 7, 1876, and made the first successful call three days later, saying to his assistant: “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”
Key facts
- Inventor (credited)
- Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922)
- Patent
- March 7, 1876
- First call
- March 10, 1876, Boston
- Assistant
- Thomas Watson
The race to the patent office
On February 14, 1876, both Bell’s lawyer and Elisha Gray filed papers at the US Patent Office describing ways to send speech electrically, just hours apart. Bell got the patent. The order of events and some details of Bell’s notes have been debated ever since, and the Bell Telephone Company fought hundreds of lawsuits.
Other claims
| Inventor | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Antonio Meucci | An Italian immigrant who developed a “telettrofono” in the 1850s–60s but couldn’t afford to renew his patent caveat; in 2002, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring his work |
| Elisha Gray | Designed a liquid transmitter similar to the one Bell used for his first call |
| Philipp Reis | A German teacher who built a device in 1861 that could transmit sound, though not clear speech |
Bell’s background
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Bell came from a family of speech and elocution teachers. Both his mother and wife were deaf, and he worked as a teacher of deaf students, which led him to study sound and hearing. He later helped found the National Geographic Society and worked on early aircraft and hydrofoils.
From one call to billions
- 1876The first telephone call
- 1878The first telephone exchange opens in New Haven, Connecticut
- 1915The first transcontinental call, New York to San Francisco
- 1973Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call
- 2007Smartphones with touchscreens go mainstream
Bell reportedly refused to keep a telephone in his study because it was distracting. Today, unknown callers are a common nuisance; see who called me. For another key invention, see who invented the light bulb.
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