The Mechanism of Speech

Alexander Graham Bell, March 3, 1847 - August 2, 1922 Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He attended both the University of Edinburgh and the University of London. In 1879, Bell immigrated to Canada and a year later to the United States.

Once in the United States, Bell began teaching deaf mutes a form of speech called visible speech, which was developed by his father. In 1872, he opened a school for deaf mutes in Massachusetts, which eventually became a part of the University of Boston, where Bell was made Professor of Vocal Physiology. Bell was granted his first telephone patent in 1876, after he created the telephone from improvements he made to the telegraph. It was essentially a harmonic telegraph, but it led to the founding of the first telephone company, Bell Telephone Company, in 1877.

In 1880, Bell received the Volta Award from France, which consisted of 50,000 francs. With this money, Bell opened up the Volta Laboratory in Washington, D. C., where he invented the audiometer, the induction balance and the first wax recording cylinder, a precursor to the phonograph. He became a naturalized citizen in 1882. Bell was a cofounder of the National Geographic Society and it's President from 1883 til 1894. Over the course of his life, Bell was granted 18 patents, 12 of which he shared with collaborators.

Alexander Graham Bell died on August 2, 1922 at his home in Canada.