On this day in history, communication changed forever.
While working in Boston at the Pemberton Avenue School for the Deaf, Alexander Graham Bell became obsessed with the concept of wire-transmitted speech. Telegrams were the most modern form of communication, but they still required physical delivery and had a limit of one message.
Bell worked with Thomas A. Watson, a local machine shop employee, to develop the first telephone prototype. Impressed with their work, Bell filed for a patent. Shortly after filing, the infamous intelligible message was transmitted: “Mr. Watson, come here, I need you.”
There was a lesser-known engineer also developing a telephone-like product. Elisha Gray, stationed in Illinois, developed a similar prototype that transmitted messages through water. His work predated Bell’s by nearly two years. In the court battle that followed, the patent was awarded to Bell. The popular legend is that there was a literal footrace to the patent office, with Bell beating Gray by an hour, thus awarding him the patent. Nevertheless, Bell ended up receiving the fateful patent.
In retrospect, the patent would later become arguably the most valuable in history. Bell offered to sell it in 1876 for $100,000, which amounts to over $3 million. However, if one takes into account the impact his invention has had economically and culturally, the estimated worth would realistically be in the trillions.
As Mr. Bell said, “Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do, you will be certain to find something you have never seen before.”
