Though several inventors did pioneering work on electronic voice transmission (many of whom later filed intellectual property lawsuits when telephone use exploded), Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone in 1876. His patent drawing is pictured above.
Though several inventors did pioneering work on electronic voice transmission (many of whom later filed intellectual property lawsuits when telephone use exploded), Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone in 1876. (His patent drawing is pictured above.) He drew his inspiration from teaching the deaf and also visits to his hearing-impaired mom, according to PBS. He called the first telephone an "electrical speech machine," according to PBS.
The invention quickly took off, and revolutionized global business and communication. When Bell died on Aug. 2, 1922, according to PBS, U.S. telephone service stopped for a minute to honor him.