Invention of the Telephone: Topics in Chronicling America Alexander Graham Bell's telephone was one of those inventions publicly demonstrated at the exhibition. The 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia that celebrated the 100th birthday of the United States delighted the exhibition goers with the latest and brightest inventions reflecting human progress. Introducing the Telephone at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition: StoryMap Dates span from 1862 to 1939, but the bulk of the materials are from 1865 to 1920.' (Library of Congress) - The collection includes 'correspondence, scientific notebooks, journals, blueprints, articles, and photographs documenting Bell's invention of the telephone and his involvement in the first telephone company, his family life, his interest in the education of the deaf, and his aeronautical and other scientific research. Author: Science Reference Section, Library of Congress Related Websites If someone asks who is credited with inventing the telephone, you can explain the controversy that still surrounds this question. However, some authors dispute this story and suggest that there was malfeasance by certain individuals at Patent Office, and possibly Bell himself. Patent Office awarded Bell with the first patent for a telephone, US Patent Number 174,465 rather than honor Gray’s caveat. He was the fifth entry of that day, while Gray’s lawyer was 39th. In Historical First Patents: The First United States Patent for Many Everyday Things (Scarecrow Press, 1994), Travis Brown, reports that Bell’s lawyer got to the patent office first. To make matters even more interesting some historians suggest that Elisha Gray, a professor at Oberlin College, applied for a caveat of the telephone on the same day Bell applied for his patent of the telephone-these gentlemen didn’t actually visit the Patent Office, their lawyers did on their behalf. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress. You can read the resolution (107th Congress, H Res 269) on. His role in the invention of the telephone was overlooked until the United States House of Representatives passed a Resolution on June 11, 2002, honoring Meucci’s contributions and work. Due to hardships, Meucci could not renew his caveat. In 1871, he filed a caveat (an announcement of an invention) for his design of a talking telegraph. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.Īntonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant, began developing the design of a talking telegraph or telephone in 1849. Louise Brooks … holding telephones, with various other models on table before her. After all it was his design that was first patented, however, he was not the first inventor to come up with the idea of a talking telegraph. Of course, Alexander Graham Bell is the father of the telephone. There have been court cases, books, and articles generated about the subject. There is a lot of controversy and intrigue surrounding the invention of the telephone. In Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

Often credit goes to the inventor of the most practical or best working invention rather than to the original inventor(s). Emile Berliner collection, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress.Īttributing the true inventor or inventors to a specific invention can be tricky business. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with being the inventor of the telephone since his patent and demonstrations for an apparatus designed for “transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically…causing electrical undulations” were successful.

Who invented telephone