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Alexander Graham Bell is famous for inventing the telephone.

Image caption,
Bell was 29 years old when he invented the telephone

Who was he?

  • Alexander was born in Edinburgh on March 3rd, 1847
  • He moved to the United States at the age of 24
  • He experimented with transmitting speech: sending sound from one place to another
  • On March 10th, 1876, his invention worked: the first telephone!
  • Other inventions included: a sound recorder and player called a graphophone and a metal detector for bullets
  • He died in Canada on August 4th, 1922
Image caption,
Bell was 29 years old when he invented the telephone

Sources - objects and photographs

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 4, , Bell had to tweak his design several times before his telephone worked properly.
Image caption,
The patent of Bell's telephone invention.

Was Alexander Graham Bell really the first person to invent the telephone?

Not exactly.

Other people, like Antonio Meucci and Elisha Gray, were also experimenting with sound at the same time.

However, Bell was the first to patent his invention.

(A patent is an official paper that says you are the owner of an idea or invention. It means only you can make money from it)

This is why he is known as the inventor of the telephone.

Image caption,
The patent of Bell's telephone invention.

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