Title: telephone | History, Definition, Invention, Uses, & Facts | Britannica
Headings: Telephone
Telephone
Learn how Alexander Graham Bell went to revolutionize telegraphy but instead invented the telephone
What is a telephone?
When was the telephone patented?
When was the telephone introduced to the public?
Who is credited as the inventor of the telephone?
When did the first transmission of speech occur with a telephone?
The telephone instrument
Working components of the telephone
Power source
Switch hook

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Top Questions
What is a telephone? A telephone is an instrument designed for the simultaneous transmission and reception of the human voice. Telephones are inexpensive and simple to operate, and they offer an immediate, personal type of communication. Billions of telephones are in use around the world. When was the telephone patented? On February 14, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell applied for a U.S. patent for the telephone. On March 7, 1876, Bell was awarded U.S. patent 174,465. This patent is often referred to as the most valuable ever issued by the U.S. Patent Office, as it described not only the telephone instrument but also the concept of a telephone system. When was the telephone introduced to the public? One of the earliest demonstrations of the telephone occurred in June 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.