A lot of people have great ideas. And they invent things. Then, they rush to get a patent for that amazing new invention. But here is the thing. People copy people. As such, a patent, an idea, or an invention could be claimed by someone else.
Take, for instance, one of the greatest inventions of all time. They are in our pockets now. They used to stand on tables. Then they started hanging on walls. The telephones.
Back in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell wasn’t the inventor of the telephone like we were all taught. He was simply the first guy to patent it. Turns out Bell was actually one of several men who were working on the telephone idea at the same time, but he got to the patent office before them.
However, in 2002, the U.S. Congress recognized an impoverished Florentine immigrant as the inventor of the telephone rather than Alexander Graham Bell.
Finally, the guy recognized a little-known mechanical genius named Antonio Meucci (pronounced mee · oo · chee), who was crowned as a father of modern communications. This came 113 years after his death.
The resolution declared Meucci’s “teletrofono” as the first telephone. He demonstrated this groundbreaking device in New York in 1860. And this made him the inventor of the telephone in the place of Bell even though it was Bell who took out a patent 16 years later.
So there it is. Your iPhone didn’t really start with Bell. Instead, Meucci was the guy. Even still. This resolution was passed in 2002. Most people still believe Bell was the inventor. We don’t know what we don’t know.
“””””””
“The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to look at them.” – Fran Lebowitz
“””””””
“The telephone has made communication easier, but it has also made it more impersonal.” – Tom Carroll
“””””””
“It is impossible to overestimate the power of a phone call at the right time.” – James Nash
“””””””
Well. Don’t call me. It’s not what you think.
