Telephone invented

Early Telephone

On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell successfully tested the first practical telephone. The initial test was accidental. It happened when Bell spilled some acid on his leg and called out for Watson to come and help him. Watson heard Bell request through the telephone instrument that they were working on.

To this day, there have been numerous claims regarding the development of the telephone. At the same time, both Alexander Bell and Elisha Gary were working on a telephone. Bell managed to file a patent with the patent office a few hours before Gary, securing the first patent. Bell was actually working on the problem of transmitting multiple messages simultaneously on the telegraph, specifically the idea of transmitting different frequencies at the same time.

Bell created the first telephone by constructing a rudimentary microphone consisting of a piece of parchment over a cone. When the parchment vibrated, it moved an attached needle suspended in a pool of diluted sulfuric acid. The changing vibrations caused the needle to vary the current flowing between the contacts. This current then traveled along a wire to another location, where the reverse process would occur.