If someone asked you who invented the telephone, you’d probably answer Alexander Graham Bell. But just like schoolkids used to learn that Edison invented electricity, this invention story isn’t always true.
The truth is: there were six different inventors working on electrical telephones around this time with high levels of success. As Wikipedia describes it, “The early history of the telephone became and still remains a confusing morass of claims and counterclaims.”
This history is confounded further by the fact that these inventors would later file lawsuits against each other. Claims led to counterclaims and lawsuits failed to clarify who exactly invented what.
Nevertheless, thanks to US patents, we know who invented the telephone from a practical standpoint: the Bell and Edison patents were commercially decisive because they dominated telephone technology. Over the years, these patents would hold up in numerous court decisions across America.
The six inventors typically credited with invented some type of electrical telephony device include:
Alexander Graham Bell: Bell received the first US patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. Bell used his own musical or harmony approach as a practical solution to the telegraph’s problems – Bell’s harmonic telegraph was based on the idea that several notes could be sent along the way simultaneously as long as the notes or signals had different pitches.
Thomas Edison: Edison is credited with inventing the carbon microphone, which “produced a strong telephone signal.”
Elisha Gray: In 1876, Gray used a water microphone to create a telephone in Highland Park, Illinois. Gray and Bell developed their inventions simultaneously and independently, which is why these two would fight a vicious legal battle over who actually invented the telephone (see below).
Tivadar Puskas: This Hungarian invented the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876.
Out of all the inventors listed above, the biggest contention is whether Bell or Gray invented the telephone. These two were the closest to creating what we know as modern, working telephones.
There has been a significant amount of controversy over the years over whether Bell or Gray invented the phone. The controversy actually went before the Canadian Parliament and United States House of Representatives at one point. I’m not going to go into huge detail here because it’s outside the scope of this article, but you can read up on the Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell telephone controversy here.
Ultimately, we can safely say the telephone is the work of many people. Bell, however, is credited with inventing the first practical, patented telephone – mostly because Bell won the famous legal battle instead of Gray.
Bell Invents the TelephoneBell Invents the Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father and grandfather were considered authorities in elocution and the correction of speech. Bell originally intended to follow in the footsteps of his family, and pursued a career and education in the same specialty.
As one article on Bell explains
, “his knowledge of the nature of sound led him not only to teach the deaf, but also to invent the telephone.”
In 1875, Bell was experimenting with his unique “harmonic telegraph” approach. This approach theorized that you could send multiple signals along an electrical wire – as long as those signals differed in pitch.
But on June 2, 1875, Bell hit a breakthrough with his harmonic telegraph. While experimenting, Bell realized he could hear a sound over a wire. The “sound” was a twanging clock spring.
10 months later, Bell achieved greater success. On March 10, 1876, Bell successfully spoke through a telephone to his assistant in the next room, saying:
“Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”
The rest is history.
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