Title: 8 True Facts About The Invention of the Telephone
Headings: 8 True Facts About The Invention of the Telephone
8 True Facts About The Invention of the Telephone
The telephone was an evolution of the telegraph
Bell first focused on improving the telegraph
Alexander Graham Bell won the patent for the telephone when Elisha Gray was late
Antonio Meucci's telephone proceeded both Gray and Bell by nearly 5 years
Bell's relationship with the deaf community helped inspire the invention
Western Union passed on an offer to buy the telephone for $100,000
Bell invented a "wireless" telephone too, in 1880
Descendents of Both Bell and Gray's companies survive to this day

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The telephone was an evolution of the telegraph
Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph. traveler1116 / E+ / Getty Images
While a professor at New York University in 1835, Samuel Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper inventing Morse Code. A public demonstration followed in 1838, and in 1843 the United States Congress funded $30,000 to construct an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. His first telegraph message became world famous, and ushered in an era of nearly instantaneous communication. 02
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Bell first focused on improving the telegraph
A telegraph machine. Ryan McVay / Photodisc / Getty Images
Although highly successful, the telegraph was limited to receiving and sending one message at a time. Bell theorized about the possibility of transmitting multiple messages over the same wire at the same time. His "harmonic telegraph" was based on the principle that several notes could be sent simultaneously along the same wire if the notes or signals differed in pitch. 03
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Alexander Graham Bell won the patent for the telephone when Elisha Gray was late
lisha Gray, American inventor, presenting the caveat for his telephone, 1876.