Telephones
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The telephone is a modern invention which allows two people who are far away to talk to one another. You have to pay for this service by the minute, which is probably the only reason some poeple are ever away from it. The telephone also makes the Internet possible, since you need to be hooked up to a phone line to use the Internet.
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell on March 10, 1876. The world's first working telephone was made of a wooden stand, a funnel, a cup of acid, and some copper wire. Before that, various people had tried to make a telephone, but had always assumed that the 'phone needed mechanical energy (ie, a vibration of some sort) and not electrical.
The telegraph, fore-runner to the telephone, was invented by Samuel Morse (as in Morse code). His system used a switch to make/break an electrical circuit, a battery for power, a wire joining two telegraph stations, and an electromagnetic reciever which produced clicking noises when turned on and off, enabling the Morse code to work.
The first telephone (which didn't work) was created by Johann Reis. It transmitted only certain sounds like snatches of music. It was unable to produce continuous sound, which was the key to a working telephone.
Incidentally, the first telephone call was:
"Come here, Mr Watson, I want you!"
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell on March 10, 1876. The world's first working telephone was made of a wooden stand, a funnel, a cup of acid, and some copper wire. Before that, various people had tried to make a telephone, but had always assumed that the 'phone needed mechanical energy (ie, a vibration of some sort) and not electrical.
The telegraph, fore-runner to the telephone, was invented by Samuel Morse (as in Morse code). His system used a switch to make/break an electrical circuit, a battery for power, a wire joining two telegraph stations, and an electromagnetic reciever which produced clicking noises when turned on and off, enabling the Morse code to work.
The first telephone (which didn't work) was created by Johann Reis. It transmitted only certain sounds like snatches of music. It was unable to produce continuous sound, which was the key to a working telephone.
Incidentally, the first telephone call was:
"Come here, Mr Watson, I want you!"
