Who Invented the Telephone?

For years we all have believed that Alexander Graham Bell was the man behind the invention of the telephone. But what if we tell you that the books we read in our school days were not right about the founder’s identity? What if Bell is not the real inventor of the telephone?

If not bell then who invented the telephone?

A recording which was heard 128 years ago, which had Bell talking. Every Italian who heard it, thought it to be the voice of a thief because they considered Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci to be the real face of the invention of the telephone. Bell just stole his idea and gave it his name without giving any acknowledgments to Meucci.

The History Behind Invention Of The Telephone

The history of phone dates back to 1847 when Bell was born in Edinburgh. He moved to Canada in 1870 and was a blessed technician. He was known to be nauseating in times of need. On the other hand, Meucci was born in Florence, struggled throughout his life and died impoverished in New York. He started by testing the primitive telephones while working as a theatre technician and worked his way up to filing for a patent in 1871. He couldn’t afford a full license due to a shortage of funds and five years later Bell registered for the same and acquired the patent right over the invention.

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The unfortunate accident and the instable financial conditions compelled Meucci’s wife to sell all his lab contents including the telephone in exchange of some medicines.

He didn’t resign to his bad luck and took all his notes and a new prototype of the telephone to Western Union Telegraph Company, but the executives who were friends with Bell didn’t make it to the meeting and later claimed that they had misplaced the telephone deposited by him. Two years from thereon Bell signed for a patent and formed a company with the Western Union.

Meucci sued bell for unethically taking over his invention, but the court favored Bell perhaps because he was an experienced businessman who had set up his branches all over the world by then.

It was in 2002, after Meucci’s death that a new ruling by the US House of Representatives declared the former ruling invalid. The US Congress found out that Meucci tested the telephone and Bell just had access to all his material. It was said to be a clear case of fraudulence and misrepresentation.

Alexander Graham Bell known for his nasty side did not lend a helping hand to the poor inventor. He instead took all the credits and became a wealthy man.

Historians and Italian-Americans finally won their battle against injustice and were able to acquire recognition for Antonio Meucci, who now after 113 years of his death came to be known as the father of modern communications.

The House of Representatives’ vote claimed Meucci's authority over the invention, hence abandoning Bell as a treacherous scot who shamelessly embraced fame and wealth by stealing somebody else’s work. The resolution said that the prototype which was called ‘teletrofono’ was first demonstrated in New York in 1860 and also recognized Meucci as the inventor instead of Bell. It was considered to be the House of Representatives’ duty to authenticate Meucci’s right over his invention and acknowledge his skills and techniques.

Explore Facts About Graham Bell

Although the man’s invention of the telephone was ridiculed, the world known scientist and technician had his way of living.

#1. Even after being credited with the invention Graham Bell did not have a telephone in his study fearing that it would create a distraction for him.

#2. Bell lives immortally in the school books as the inventor of the first practical device that could transmit human voice by using electric current.

#3. With all the money that he received after the invention, he established a school for the deaf in Boston, Massachusetts.

#4. On his death in 1922, people throughout North America were asked to refrain from using their telephones while he was buried to let the telephones pat him a silent tribute.

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Do you have any other scientist in mind who could not claim his inventions? Let us know in the comment section below.

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