Alexander Graham Bell is best known for inventing the telephone, but there is much more to his story. Born in Scotland, Bell moved to Canada as a child and later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He was not only an inventor, but also a scientist, writer, and advocate for the hearing-impaired. Bell’s middle name was a birthday present, and his interest in acoustics was sparked by living and working with the hearing-impaired. He faced numerous lawsuits over his telephone patent and invented a wireless telephone and a metal detector. Bell was also a founding member of the National Geographic Society and a close friend of Thomas Edison. This article will explore some fun and possibly surprising facts about the man behind the telephone, who was truly a Renaissance man.
- Alexander Graham Bell is a household name, known as the inventor of the telephone, but there is much more to his story. Here are some surprising facts about the man behind the invention:
- He was an immigrant: Born in Scotland, Bell moved to Canada with his parents in 1870 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1882.
- Bell’s middle name was a birthday present: Bell’s father allowed the youngster to adopt the middle name “Graham” on his 11th birthday, in honor of Alexander Graham, a former student of his who was boarding with the family.
- Bell’s mother and wife were both hearing-impaired: Living and working with the hearing impaired sparked Bell’s interest in the principles of acoustics and his experiments in transmitting sound waves over wires.
- He faced more than 600 lawsuits over his telephone patent: Five of them reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld Bell’s claims in one of the longest patent battles in American history.
- Bell developed a wireless telephone: Bell invented a wireless telephone that transmitted conversations and sounds by beams of light, which was patented in 1880.
- He invented a rudimentary metal detector in a quest to save the life of a president: After the July 2, 1881, shooting of President James Garfield, Bell developed an electromagnetic machine that he tested on Civil War veterans who still had bullets lodged in their bodies.
- Bell connected Helen Keller with Annie Sullivan: Bell directed the Keller family to Boston’s Perkins School for the Blind, where they met recent graduate Anne Sullivan, the miracle-working tutor who would teach Helen to write, speak and read Braille.
- A Bell-designed speedboat set a world record: The HD-4 model on which he collaborated reached a speed of more than 70 miles per hour during a 1919 test on a lake in Nova Scotia, a world water-speed record that stood for more than a decade.
- North American telephones were silenced in Bell’s honor following his death: All telephone service in the United States and Canada was suspended for a full minute at the precise moment when Bell was lowered into his grave.
- Decibels are named after him: To honor the inventor’s contributions to acoustical science, the standard unit for the intensity of sound waves was named the “bel” in the 1920s. The decibel, one-tenth of a bel, is the most commonly used metric for measuring the magnitude of noise.
- Bell was one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society in 1888, and served as its president from 1896 to 1904.
- Bell was also a prolific writer, and authored numerous articles, books, and essays on a variety of subjects, including science, communication, and education.
- In addition to his work on the telephone, Bell also made significant contributions to the fields of aviation and hydrofoils. He developed a series of large, manned kites called tetrahedral kites, which he hoped would one day be used to build flying machines.
- Bell’s wife, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, was a strong advocate for the education of the deaf, and helped establish the Volta Bureau, a research institution dedicated to the study of communication for the deaf.
- Bell was a close friend and collaborator of Thomas Edison, another famous inventor. The two men often corresponded and exchanged ideas, and Bell even helped Edison improve his phonograph invention.
- Bell was a lifelong dog lover, and owned several beloved pets throughout his life. One of his most famous dogs was a Scottish terrier named Trouve, who often accompanied him on his scientific expeditions and adventures.
- While Bell is best known for his invention of the telephone, his work in other areas of science and technology, and his dedication to helping the hearing-impaired, is equally remarkable. From his contributions to metal detection to his design of a record-setting speedboat, Alexander Graham Bell was a true Renaissance man.
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