Alexander Graham Bell Timeline
1847
1868–73
Bell gains admission to University College, London. He does not complete his studies there, however. Shortly after, in 1870, Bell’s family moves to Ontario, Canada. Because his mother is deaf and his father teaches deaf students, Bell wants to teach hearing-impaired students. While teaching at an American school for deaf children in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1873, Bell meets Mabel Hubbard, daughter of future telephone investor Gardiner Greene Hubbard. (Mabel would eventually marry Bell in 1877.)
Mid-1870s
telephone: Alexander Graham Bell's sketch of a telephoneAlexander Graham Bell's sketch of a telephone. He filed the patent for his telephone at the U.S. Patent Office on February 14, 1876—just two hours before a rival, Elisha Gray, filed a declaration of intent to file a patent for a similar device.
© Photos.com/Getty Images1876–77
Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell, inventor who patented the telephone in 1876, lectures at Salem, Massachusetts (top), while friends in his study in Boston, Massachusetts, listen to his lecture via telephone on February 12, 1877.
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages1880s
Not content with merely revolutionizing human communication, Bell later turns his attention to the technology of sound recording and playback. In 1880 Bell is awarded the French government’s Volta Prize of 50,000 francs for his invention of the telephone. He uses the money to set up the Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C., an institution devoted to improving the lives of the hearing impaired. His studies in sound playback eventually lead to his invention (1885) of a device called the Graphophone, which is a refinement of the phonograph. Bell uses proceeds from the sale of patents for the Graphophone to endow the Volta Laboratory. During this period Bell also develops the electrical bullet probe, an early version of the metal detector, for surgical use.
1888–1903
Bell becomes a founding member of the National Geographic Society in 1888. He succeeds his father-in-law as president in 1898. Bell serves as president for five years.
1907
Bell founds the Aerial Experiment Association, which makes significant advances in the design and control of early aircraft.
1922
Bell dies on August 2, 1922, at his estate on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. During his funeral service, every telephone of the Bell system in the United States and Canada is kept silent for one minute in his honor.
Alexander Graham Bell summary
Alexander Graham Bell summary
Alexander Graham Bell’s Achievements
Alexander Graham Bell | Achievements
special education Summary
Special education, the education of children who differ socially, mentally, or physically from the average to such an extent that they require modifications of usual school practices. Special education serves children with emotional, behavioral, or cognitive impairments or with intellectual,
AT&T Corporation Summary
AT&T (T) is a Dallas-based holding company that comprises telecommunications and technology subsidiaries and affiliates; its history dates back to 1876 and Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone. The company, long referred to as “Ma Bell,” swelled to great corporate heights as it built