Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born scientist and inventor best known

for inventing the first working telephone in 1876 and founding the Bell
Telephone Company in 1877.  The man we know as one of the greatest was self-
taught, he only attended a few lectures in college, but continued to learn and
experiment throughout his life.

Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. During his youth,
Bell was strongly influenced by his family and his environs. His grandfather
and father were experts on the mechanics of voice and elocution. And Bell's
mother, Eliza, became an accomplished pianist despite being deaf, inspiring
him to undertake big challenges.

The elder Bell encouraged young Alexander and instilled an appreciation for
learning and intellectual pursuits. By age 16, Alexander had joined his father
in his work with the deaf and soon assumed full charge of his father’s London
operations.

Between 1873 and 1874, Bell spent long days and nights trying to perfect the
harmonic telegraph. But during his experiments, he became interested in
another idea, transmitting the human voice over wires. On March 10, 1876,
after years of work, Bell perfected his most well-known invention, the
telephone, and made his first telephone call.

With this success, Bell began to promote the telephone in a series of public
demonstrations. At the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Bell
demonstrated the telephone to the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro, who
exclaimed, “My God, it talks!” Other demonstrations followed, each at a
greater distance than the last.
The Bell Telephone Company was organized on July 9, 1877. In January
1915, Bell was invited to make the first transcontinental phone call. From New
York, he spoke with his former associate Watson in San Francisco.

Even though Bell could not attend a properly education, his perseverance and
patience always impress and inspire me. Self-learning and studying through experience
help Bell to be one of the greatest inventors of all the time.