Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist, engineer and inventor best known for his invention of the telephone. Inspired by the invention of the telegraph and interested in elocution and speech, he came up with the idea of creating a device to transmit voice in electrical form. His research led to the manufacture of hearing aids, resulting in the first patent for a telephone in 1876. Bell then put a great deal of energy into promoting commercial development in the United States and founded the Bell Telephone Company.
He explored fields such as optical telecommunications and aeronautics. He also developed the first hydrofoil, a boat that moves using the lift generated by submerged wings that function exactly like the wings of an airplane.
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1847: Alexander Graham Bell is born on March 3rd, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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1870: Bell immigrates with his parents to Canada.
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1872: He opens his own school for the hearing-impaired in Boston.
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1875: He builds a first prototype of the vibraphone. The device is operated by a movable metal tongue, similar to those used on clarinets. In March 1876, Bell improved the quality of the vibraphone by replacing the tongue with a wire immersed in a container filled with water and acid. The liquid produced modulates the intensity of the current in the wire in a way equivalent to sound waves in the atmosphere.
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1876: The inventor obtains the first patent for a telephone.
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1877: He creates the Bell Telephone Company.
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1888: He becomes a founding member of the National Geographic Society, a scientific and educational organization.
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1913: He is awarded the Hughes Medal, one of the scientific distinctions conferred by the Royal Society (the British Academy of Sciences).
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1922: In his private estate in Nova Scotia, at the age of 75, Alexander Graham Bell dies of complications from diabetes.