Alexander Graham Bell Tests Phone

March 10, 1876

First successful test of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.

“…the day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid on to houses just like water and gas — and friends converse with each other without leaving home.”

Alexander Graham Bell wrote this in a letter to his father on the day of his first successful telephone test when "articulate speech was transmitted." Like his father, Bell taught school for the hearing impaired; his mother & wife were both deaf. His knowledge of speech and sound are said to have helped inspire his invention.

DID YOU KNOW?

Alexander Graham Bell: lifelong inventor.

• Bell invented a modern version of a metal detector used when Pres. Garfield was shot to try to find the bullet; he was unsuccessful.
• Bell became involved in aeronautics, building kites that carried passengers and powered aircrafts.
• Bell co-founded the National Geographic Society.

Bell was 29 when he first successfully tested the telephone. Today, more than 95% of Americans own a cell phone of some kind.