On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. Bell taught at a school for the deaf in Boston. During this time, he wondered if speech could be transmitted over wires. Samuel Morse’s telegraph transmitted data—what if wires could carry voice? Bell developed a prototype of a “harmonic telegraph” Three days after filing the patent, the telephone carried its first intelligible message–”Mr. Watson, come here, I need you”–from Bell to his assistant.
