Who was the first person to invent the telephone and where did that person come from?

Question

Be careful...

So far the first three answers are all wrong.

40 minutes have passed since I asked, and no-one has the right answer yet. I warned you to be careful!!! :-)

7 answers now, and still no-one has it right.

Rep. Fossella's Resolution Honoring True Inventor of Telephone: Antonio Meucci Receives Recognition 113 Years After His Death

Staten Island, NY -- While history text books laud Alexander Graham Bell for inventing the telephone, it was actually a little-known Italian immigrant from Milan who developed the prototype years before.

Antonio Meucci never received the recognition he deserved during his lifetime, but this evening – 113 years after his death – the House of Representatives is expected to pass a Resolution honoring his contributions and recognizing him as the true inventor of the telephone.
"Antonio Meucci was a man of vision whose enormous talents led to the invention of the telephone," Fossella said.
A man of limited means, Meucci was unable to obtain a patten for his invention, instead settling for a one-year renewable notice of an impending patent, first filed in 1871 but which he was unable to pursue after 1874. Bell, working later in the same laboratory where...

...Meucci's materials had been stored -- was not granted a patent until 1876.

When Meucci heard of Bell's activities, he urged his lawyers to take action. The Supreme Court of the United States eventually agreed to hear the case between Meucci and Bell, and the government was moving to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation. However, Meucci died before the trial commenced, rendering any judgment moot - and the case was discontinued.

All taken from official press department of 13th Congressional District of New York, Congressman Vito J. Fossella. So, now you know. Have a good day.

Answer 1

I know Fossella's position. I do not, however, believe he has with his resolution somehow settled the question. He has certainly not proven, as some would assert that Bell is a fraud who stole someone else's invention. One can allow Meucci some credit without adopting such a tack.

A brief look at the controversy:

There were clearly a number of people who were experimenting with things along roughly the same lines in the mid-19th century, building in part on the success of the telegraph. This is scarcely surprising or unusual in the history of inventions.

It is also clear that normal patent application procedures were followed, and that Bell, according to those procedures DID properly procure the patent for the telephone.

There is NO evidence of Bell STEALING his ideas from someone else --nothing in his history supports that suggestion, and he would have to have done unbelievably extensive doctoring of his documents over the course of many years to pull it off. (I do not believe anyone has attempted to demonstrate any such thing based on an examination of his documents --which ARE available.)

Some of the "Meucci, not Bell" claimants have been rather careless in their assertions, and this makes it much harder to credit their arguments. For instance, it is said that he had already come up with the invention long before Bell, but could not AFFORD the costs of patenting it. That would be sad (though legally it would change nothing), but it is difficult then to explain how --during the VERY period in question-- Meucci applied for and received many OTHER patents!

As for the notion that it's all because Meucci was Italian and Bell was not. Please be careful here. It is irresponsible to resort to innuendo and make this into an issue of prejudice, unless one has specific evidence of such prejudice related to the facts of THIS case.

I do not see that anyone has put forward any such evidence. (Unfortunately, on the other side, there are those who have rather quickly endorsed the strongest Meucci claims without , it seems, looking carefully at the evidence. They seem to believe it MUST be true on the basis of THEIR own ethnic pride and/or from anti-WASP sentiment... though it some cases it's just the common appeal of an alleged conspiracy.)

Remember, giving the credit to Bell is NOT based on some sort of popularity context, or who was most successful in their efforts to "spin" the history. It is based on the LEGAL records, most importantly, those involving the patent process. (More generally, we have had plenty of folks given patents and credit for inventions who were not "WASP"s.)

Do note that the basic point of the 2002 Congressional resolution is NOT to give Meucci credit as "the true inventor of the telephone" as some have claimed (as so to take away credit from Bell), but to credit his important CONTRIBUTIONS. No problem there.

Excellent overview of the question:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_Antonio_Meucci.htm

See for some futher citations/sources:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/telephone.html

Answer 2

Alexander Graham Bell

Answer 3

Alexander Graham Bell is credit for the invention of the telephone.
He is an American of Scottish ancestry.

Answer 4

What I want to know is, who was the second person to invent the the telephone?

Answer 5

Phillip Reis first devised an instrument which could produce musical sounds but could not transmit speech. That was in the year 1860. He was from Germany. Alexander Graham Bell was actually the first to produce not only sound but transmit speech and that was 1875.A.G. Bell was born in Edinburgh,Scotland but ended as an American citizen.

Answer 6

Alexander Graham Bell came from his mommy's belly.

Answer 7

Alexander Graham Bell came from SCOTLAND.

Answer 8

Bell was the first to PATENT the telephone. Another, and my memory has failed, actually managed to develop one marginally before him.

Answer 9

Alexander Graham Bell - he was Canadian.

Answer 10

Can´t remember his name but I think he was Italian.