Telephone
Teléfono
- Date
- 1876 · confidence high
- Place
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Credited to
- Alexander Graham Bell (1876 patent); Antonio Meucci (teletrofono, 1871); Elisha Gray; Philipp Reis
- People
- 👤 Alexander Graham Bell1847–1922👤 Antonio Meucci1808–1889👤 Elisha Gray1835–1901👤 Johann Philipp Reis1834–1874
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A device that converted the voice into an electrical signal and reconstructed it at a distance. For the first time it removed the need for a trained operator (the telegraph) to communicate in real time.
Meucci filed a caveat in 1871; Gray filed his application on the same day as Bell (14 February 1876). The US Congress recognised Meucci's contribution in 2002. Reis built a device in 1861.
What it led to
- Urban and national telephone networks run by monopolies (Bell/AT&T)
- Remote business coordination and centralised offices
- A culture of instant conversation and the connected home