On This Day In History: Eminent Scottish Inventor Graham Bell Born – On Mar 3, 1847

AncientPages.com - On Mar 3, 1847, Alexander Graham Bell was born. Bell was an eminent Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator credited with inventing the first practical telephone.

Bell had long been fascinated by the idea of transmitting speech and by 1875 had come up with a simple receiver that could turn electricity into sound. In March 1876, Bell was granted a patent for the telephone, and it developed quickly. Credit: Bain News Service - Public Domain

For three generations, the Bells had been the leading authorities on elocution and speech correction. Born in Edinburgh to a family of speech therapists, he was trained to enter the family profession. At the age of 16, Bell began researching the mechanics of speech.

He was educated in Edinburgh and London. In 1870, he emigrated with his family to Canada, and the following year he moved to the United States to teach. There, he pioneered a visible speech system developed by his father to teach deaf-mute children.

In 1872 Bell founded a school in Boston to train teachers of the deaf. The school subsequently became part of Boston University, where Bell was appointed professor of vocal physiology in 1873. Bell had long been fascinated by the idea of transmitting speech and, by 1875, had developed a simple receiver that could turn electricity into sound. In March 1876, Bell was granted a patent for the telephone, and it produced it quickly.

Within a year, the first telephone exchange was built in Connecticut, and the Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, with Bell the owner of a third of the shares, quickly making him a wealthy man.

In 1880, Bell was awarded the French Volta Prize for his invention. With the money, he founded the Volta Laboratory in Washington, where he continued experiments in communication, medical research, and techniques for teaching speech to the deaf.

He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1882.

Bell invented several other valuable devices, including the first working metal detector.

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