Look At Us Now, Mr Bell

It's Alexander Graham Bell Day. 

Today – only way back in 1867 –

Alexander Graham Bell

patented the telephone. 

 Can you imagine what Mr Bell

would be thinking

if he was here today,

watching us using our ‘phones!   

Cool Facts:

Poor Alexander, he didn’t get a middle name – even though his siblings had one.  He pestered his parents and finally, was given “Graham” after a family friend.  Both his father and grandfather were names Alexander Bell.  The family were in the business of elocution and speech.  Young Alexander loved sound and taught himself ventriloquism and piano.   Strangely, both his mother and wife were deaf.

Aged 12, Alexander invented a de-husking device for a flour mill.   Hating school, he never made it past 15 years old.  He moved in with his grandfather in London.  Later, he was a teacher, teaching deaf students.  He was later given honorary degrees from Harvard, Dartmouth, the University of Edinburg and the University of Wurzburg in Austria.

A little controversy: On the same day as Bell’s lawyer filed a patent for the telephone, another man, Gray,  filed a design for a similar device.

Bell’s device was not working until three days after the patent was filed – and he replicated a device Gray had used.  Bell’s attorney was shown Gray’s design (in order to pay off a debt between the two men).  Bell later admitted to learning some of the technical details from Gray’s patent.  Scandal!

Nevertheless, Bell offered to sell his patent for $100 000 to Western Union.  The president refused – but, two years later offered $25 million for it.  Bell was no longer interested.  In 18 years, over 600 lawsuits were fought.  In 1887, the government moved to annul the patent – alleging fraud, but this was dropped.  He continued to design and invent his whole life.  Bell invented the first metal detector.  Ahead of his times, he experimented with composting toilets – worried about the effects of methane gas on the environment.  He even mentioned the idea of solar panels to heat homes.  He had over thirty patents to his name when he died. 

Bell died in 1922. 

During his funeral,

all ‘phones were silenced.

Apparently, Bell wanted people

 to answer the ‘phone with

 “Ahoy”. 

 I dare you

 to answer the phone today

with a hearty AHOY!

Thomas Edison was the person

to suggest we say “Hello”.

Information and pictures from here.