Birth of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born on 3 March 1847 in Edinburgh. A Scottish-born scientist and inventor, Bell emigrated to Canada and then the United States, where he worked as a teacher of the deaf, as his mother and wife were both deaf. His experiments with transmitting sound led to a patent for the telephone in 1876, and he spoke the first words over the new device to his assistant Thomas Watson. His priority was disputed by rivals such as Elisha Gray and Antonio Meucci, but the patent was upheld. He founded the Bell Telephone Company, which developed into a vast telecommunications business. He later worked on aeronautics and hydrofoil boats, and he was a co-founder of the National Geographic Society.

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