Portrait of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was the first to patent the telephone, an "apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically", after experimenting with many primitive sound transmitters and receivers. However, the history of the invention of the telephone is a confusing collection of claims and counterclaims, made no less confusing by the many lawsuits which attempted to resolve the patent claims of several individuals. Speaking tubes remained common and can still be found today in a variety of locations, including ships.

The string or "lover's" telephone has also been known for centuries, comprising two diaphragms connected by a taut string or wire. Sound waves are carried as vibrations along the string or wire from one diaphragm to the other. The classic example is the tin can telephone, a children's toy made by connecting the two ends of a string to the bottoms of two metal cans, paper cups or similar items.

Bell speaking into a prototype model of the telephone

 The first telephone was installed in the Southern Pacific Depot. The telephone number was 1

 Tin Can Public Phone 

The First Telephone Call 
March 10, 1876
What were the first words ever spoken on the telephone? They were spoken by Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, when he made the first call on March 10, 1876, to his assistant, Thomas Watson: "Mr. Watson--come here--I want to see you." What would you have said?