The Real Reason Alexander Graham Bell Invented the Telephone
Just a week after his birthday, Alexander Graham Bell changed the way we live and communicate. It all started 144 years ago today. It was March 10th, 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call to Thomas Watson in the next room.
Did you know that is mother and wife were deaf and he was developing the telephone to communicate with them and others who were deaf? I didn't either. Here are some other things that you may not know.
His first words on the telephone were "Mr. Watson...come here...I want you." No, they didn't have that kind of relationship. Bell was in a panic because he had spilled acid on his clothes.
He considered it an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his studio. Now we have a panic attack if we forget our cell phone in the other room. How many times have you driven back home to get your phone?
Bell is credited with the invention of the metal detector. The device was put together in an attempt to find the bullet in President James Garfield.
According to Biography, the metal detector worked flawlessly in tests but it couldn't find the assassin's bullet because the metal bed frame on which the President was lying disturbed the instrument.
The president's surgeons were skeptical of the device and ignored Bell's request to move the president to a bed without metal springs.
To his close relatives and friends, he was called "Aleck." He was known as a brilliant man and that is where the term "smart aleck" came from...FAKE NEWS but it got you thinking.
We owe a lot to Aleck but it's amazing to me that 144 years later we use the phone for everything...except to talk. When I give my phone number to somebody, I tell them to text me first so that I know it's them.
In honor of this invention, today is also National Landline Telephone Day. Do you have a landline at your home? When was the last time you even used a landline?
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