Myth: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
Fact: In 1850, more than twentyfive years before Alexander Graham Bell's
invention, a german school teacher named Philip Reis created what he described as an "artificial
ear". He linked this "artificial ear" (essentially a microphone), to the strings of a violin (the
speaker). This device which he called the Telephone was presented to Frankfurt's Physics Association (Der
Physikalische Verein) on October 26, 1861. Although he was able to make it work at distances of up to 100m, it
was not good enough to meet with commercial success. It wasn't until 1876, that Bell filed the patent that
earned him the title of the inventor of the telephone.
INTERESTING BOOKS ABOUT
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
Listen Up!: Alexander Graham Bell's Talking Machine (Step into
Reading)
Time For Kids: Alexander Graham Bell
World of Inventors: Alexander Graham
Bell
Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell? (Scholastic Science
Supergiants)
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