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Born in Scotland, inventor, scientist, and engineer Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing and patenting the first practical telephone.
Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 telephone patent drawing. Bell's telephone was the first apparatus to transmit human speech via machine. His work culminated in one of the most profitable and contested of all 19th-century patents.
However, the term "telephone" had been applied to other inventions several years before Bell's breakthrough. German scientist Johann Philipp Reis used the term in reference to his invention, commonly known as the Reis telephone, around 1860.
The master telephone patent awarded to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The patent remains one of the most valuable ever awarded in history. It's from this patent that other patents for electric telephone devices and features flowed.
The debate about whether Bell was in fact the inventor of the telephone continues to this day. Besides Johann Philipp Reis, Belgium-born Charles Bourseul and the Italian Antonio Meucci have all been credited with the invention. But it's the American electrical engineer Elisha Gray (pictured) that some historians believe should have been awarded the lucrative patent for his development of a telephone prototype in 1876.
On March 10, 1876, the world's first successful telephone transmission of clear speech using a liquid transmitter took place when Bell spoke into his device, "Mr. Watson [Thomas A. Watson, Bell's assistant] come here, I want to see you." And Watson heard each word distinctly. Pictured is an illustration and the notes recording the historic occasion.
Alexander Graham Bell seen making the first telephone call between New York and Chicago in 1892, to mark the opening of a telephone service between the two cities, a distance of 1,528 km (950 mi).
1. Transmitter. 2. Receiver. 3. Later form of long-distance telephone for office use. 4. Portable telephone. 5. Section of above. 6. Telephone in use.
Pictured: the device Alexander Graham Bell invented in 1875 that became the world's first telephone.
Bell's prototype telephone centennial stamp issue of 1976.
Before the invention of the electromagnetic telephone, there were mechanical acoustic devices for transmitting spoken words and music over a distance greater than that of normal speech. One of these was the rudimentary tin can telephone, a type of acoustic (non-electrical) speech-transmitting device made up of two tin cans attached to either end of a taut string or wire.
On June 25, 1876, Bell exhibited his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Among the enthusiastic attendees was Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil and British mathematical physicist Lord Kelvin. Bell announced his invention to the general public and the world's press. Lord Kelvin described the telephone as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph."
On August 10, 1876, Bell made the world's first long-distance telephone call, one-way, not reciprocal, over a distance of about 9.5 km (6 mi), between Brantford and Paris, two cities in Ontario, Canada. Later, on October 9, he made the first two-way long-distance telephone call between Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1881, the world's first international telephone call was made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada and Calais, Maine, United States. Telephone and telegraph companies around the world were being established, as well as telephone exchange facilities. By the turn of the 20th century, Bell's telephone was being widely used by the public.
The first rotary dial telephones appeared in 1910. By 1919, they were commonplace. Pictured is an advertisement explaining how to use an Automatic Electric dial telephone to place long-distance calls. The Illinois Tunnel Company in Chicago was one of the largest early users of Automatic Electric equipment.
Facilitated by transatlantic telegraph cables laid in the 19th century (pictured), the first transatlantic telephone call, from London to New York, was made on March 7, 1926. The first telephone call around the world by wire and radio was made on April 25, 1935.
Pictured: a standing 1935 rotary-dial telephone, with its receiver hanging from a hook, separate from the mouthpiece.
In the early 1960s, AT&T introduced the first touch-tone telephones. Pictured is the conventional rotary dial (left) held up for comparison with the new push-button caller.
In the static trench warfare that prevailed in the First World War, a web of telephone and telegraph wires crisscrossed the battlefields and the areas behind the front lines, allowing real-time conversations. The telephone proved equally vital during the 1939–45 conflict. Pictured are US Army Signal Corps using captured German telephone equipment, around 1916.
The Princess telephone was introduced by the Bell System in 1959. It was commonly advertised with the slogan "It's little...It's lovely...It lights."
Anthony Dawson as Charles Alexander Swann/Captain Lesgate sneaks up behind an oblivious Margot Mary Wendice, played by Grace Kelly, in a tense scene from 'Dial M For Murder,' directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The title in the 1960 drama film 'BUtterfield 8' (capitalized "B" and "U") derives from the pattern of old telephone exchange names in the United States and Canada. The movie stars Elizabeth Taylor, who won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role.
By the late 1950s, the long-distance telephone call was no longer a luxury. International direct dialing from London to Paris was first offered in March 1963; by mid-1968, transatlantic cable capacity had increased to the point where scheduling calls between Western Europe, the UK, and the USA was no longer necessary and calls were completed on demand.
The world's first pay phone installed in a booth was invented in 1889 by William Gray and developed by George A. Long, after Gray realized the difficulty of placing a phone call from outside the home. It was installed on a street in Connecticut.
Use of payphones peaked in the early 1990s. The burgeoning popularity of the mobile phone meant that countries around the world began discontinuing public telephone services exponentially as the digital age dawned.
Created in the mid-1960s as an alternative to the Princess telephone and designed to be more stylish and easier to use than a traditional telephone, the Trimline series of telephones served as an early design blueprint for the cellular phone, still many years away.
On April 3, 1973, Motorola employee Martin Cooper placed the first hand-held cell phone call to Joel Engel, head of research at AT&T's Bell Labs, while talking on the first Motorola DynaTAC prototype. Pictured here in 2002, Cooper is considered the inventor of the first cell phone.
This July 21, 1969 photograph shows US President Richard Nixon on the phone congratulating the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, who are seen on a screen performing the first steps on the Moon.
The IBM Simon mobile from 1994 (right) was the first personal digital assistant or PDA to include telephone features. Pictured alongside it is the huge Motorola Transportable communicator from 1985.
On June 11, 2002, Meucci was somewhat belatedly recognized for "...his work in the invention of the telephone" (but not "...for inventing the telephone") by the United States House of Representatives.
Believe it or not, the car phone appeared in 1946 when the first commercial call using what can be regarded as a "mobile" phone took place in St. Louis in the United States on June 17, 1946.
Batman and Robin—the "Dynamic Duo" played by Adam West and Burt Ward—regularly used the "Batphone" to make secure calls from base and while out on the road.
In the 2002 horror film 'The Ring,' the telephone plays a significant role after Rachel (Naomi Watts) receives a number of strange calls from an unknown person warning her of a terrible curse after she's viewed a disturbing videotape.
Much of this thriller takes place within the claustrophobic confines of a public phone booth, where Stuart Shepard (Colin Farrell) becomes the victim of a mysterious caller who threatens to harm him.
See also: The 30 best thrillers of all time
Rapid technology change is one reason for the high turnover of cell phone models—millions of cell phones each year are discarded in favor of newer technology. Considered hazardous waste in most countries around the world, disposing of unwanted mobile devices properly has always proved difficult. Organizations like recyclenow offer solutions on how to dispose of unwanted cell phones in a responsible manner. Pictured: old and unwanted cell phones collected for recycling.
The second generation (2G) of mobile devices introduced a new variant of communication called SMS, or text messaging. The advent of prepaid services in the late 1990s soon made SMS the communication method of choice among the young, and eventually just about everybody. Pictured: personal cell phones and modems, 1997–2003.
As more and more people began to use cell phones in their daily lives, it became clear that demand for data (such as access to browse the Internet) was growing. In response, the industry began to work on the next generation of technology known as 3G.
The high connection speeds of 3G technology in the mid-2000s enabled a transformation in the industry: for the first time, media streaming of radio (and even television) content to 3G handsets became possible. In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone, which combined a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a Internet communications device with the ability to use email, web browsing, maps, and searching.
According to a report in the UK's Telegraph, children spend twice as long on smartphones as talking to parents.
The advent of 4G has seen mobile devices truly become smartphones, with an array of service functions. Besides being able to call, text, and browse the Internet, users can take high resolution photographs of anything, including themselves.
5G is the next version of cellular mobile telephone standards. But what will smartphones look like in 2030? According to techradar, foldable phones are set to make even more of an impression by the end of the decade.
Techradar notes that the highest resolution currently in a smartphone is 108MP in the Xiaomi Mi Note 10. But in 10 years' time, that number may vastly increased. The Nokia 9 PureView smartphone (pictured) already features five cameras, but with megapixel count going through the roof, expect to see 2030's smartphones with even more camera lenses.
With telephones becoming more available to the general public, advertisers thought up ingenious new methods to capture a slice of the market. Here, a slogan on a motorbike and sidecar in 1930's England reads, "You are wanted on the telephone" as part of a customer drive pitch.
Despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, the traditional British red telephone box can still be seen in many places throughout the UK. Dating back to 1924, the iconic kiosks remain a cherished British institution.
A silent drama, 'The Telephone Girl' (1927) is set around the life and loves of a woman working in a telephone exchange. The star of the film, Madge Bellamy, was later embroiled in a scandal surrounding an incident where Bellamy was arrested after trying to shoot her former lover.
Presently, foldable phones are largely considered interesting gimmicks. However, a number of models have already been launched, including the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate Xs (pictured).
Manufactured by Motorola, Inc. from 1983 to 1994, the DynaTAC 8000X (pictured in black in the foreground) was the world's first commercially available mobile phone. A full charge took roughly 10 hours, and it offered only 30 minutes of talk time. It was priced at an eye-watering US$3,995 in 1984, equivalent to US $9,831 in today's prices.
The telephone features in the title of this spy thriller starring Charles Bronson and Lee Remick. Brainwashed Soviet deep-cover sleeper agents are activated after receiving a special phrase during a phone conversation with their handler.
That said, Antonio Meucci's voice-communication apparatus is also credited by several sources as the first telephone. His 1871 patent for the device was rejected.
When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, little did he know just how revolutionary his device would become. In time, the telephone became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. Everybody wanted to be connected! Bell wouldn't recognize today's smartphone, but the essential elements—a microphone (transmitter) to speak into and an earphone (receiver) that reproduces the voice in a distant location—are down to his vision, and of others like him.
Click through the following gallery and pick up the fascinating timeline of the telephone.
Calling up the telephone timeline
Pick up the history of the phone here!
LIFESTYLE Communication
When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, little did he know just how revolutionary his device would become. In time, the telephone became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. Everybody wanted to be connected! Bell wouldn't recognize today's smartphone, but the essential elements—a microphone (transmitter) to speak into and an earphone (receiver) that reproduces the voice in a distant location—are down to his vision, and of others like him.
Click through the following gallery and pick up the fascinating timeline of the telephone.