History Daily - Alexander Graham Bell Makes the First Telephone Call

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

March 10, 1876. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call in history, revolutionizing human communication. This episode originally aired in 2023. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

It's January 25th, 1915 at the exchange of the American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation in San Francisco. Inside, a room full of smartly dressed businessmen talk among themselves, but when the clock strikes one o'clock, a hush of anticipation settled across the room. A phone rings, and all eyes go to the building's special guest, the co-inventor of the telephone, Thomas Watson. Four decades ago, Thomas and his former employer, Alexander Graham Bell, revolutionized communications with their invention to telephone. Now, from opposite coasts, they're about to partake in another milestone by conducting the first transcontinental phone call.

Excited whispers fill the room as Thomas lifts the receiver and holds it to his ear. At first, he hears nothing. Then there's a slight buzz, followed by the familiar, soft Scottish accent, of his former employee. Aplaus breaks out as Thomas confirms that he can hear Alexander Grand Bell all the way across the country. When the applause dies down, Thomas hears Bell say a sentence already burned into his memory. Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.

It's the same sentence that Bell chose to utter on their first successful telephone call years ago. But today, Thomas has a different response to it. With a chuckle, he replies, I could, but this time it would take me a week to get to you. He smiles as Bell laughs on the other end. Though they may be 3,400 miles apart, this moment feels just like that fortuitous day in Bell's attic

when the pair conducted their first ever phone call. Except this time, the stakes are far lower. Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson's conversation during the first transcontinental call is a light-hearted recreation of events 39 years before. On that occasion, Bell summoned Thomas with exactly the same words, only it was the first ever telephone call, and the line between them stretched simply from one room to another. The event marked a triumph of not only the pair's engineering talent, but also their competitive spirit.

When that historic first call was made, telephone technology didn't yet exist, but already it was a battleground for engineers. To become credited as the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell had to work fast and work, and race against his rivals. Until eventually, the Scotsman beat his competitors, kick-starting a technological revolution that will change the world when he made the first successful telephone call on March 10, 1876. From Noisor and Ayrship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day.

On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is March 10, 1876. Alexander Graham Bell makes the first telephone call. It's the afternoon of June 2, 1875, in Boston, Massachusetts, 40 years before the first transcontinental telephone call. Inside a room in his attic laboratory, 28-year-old Alexander Graham Bell tinkers with a modified telegraph machine. Bell has been long interested in communication. Born to a deaf mother, he first found work helping deaf people learn how to speak. But Bell also has a

passion for electrical engineering, and for the past few years, he's been experimenting with telegraph equipment. Right now, only single-tone telegraphs exist. They work by transmitting Morse code over wires, but they use only one frequency of sound. So Bell is investigating whether a single-tone telegraph machine could be altered to send and receive different tones. He reasons that if tones are of a different frequency, multiple messages could be transmitted at the same time over a single wire, making the telegraph network far more efficient. But before Bell tests his modified telegraph, he checks it has power and is set to receive a signal. Everything seems to be in order, so he alerts his assistant, Thomas Watson, that he's ready. But from the room

next door, Thomas shouts back that there's a problem with his telegraph transmitter. Bell sinks to his seat with a sigh. Every day, he treads between these two rooms hundreds of times. Already his feet and back ache today. So he stays in his seat and asks Thomas what the issue is. Thomas replies that one of the vibrating reeds they're using to transmit tones is stuck to a magnet. Bell instructs him to pull it off, but be careful not to damage it. Seconds later, Bell hears a tinny twang reverberating as a reed comes free, but then jumps up with a start as he takes in what just happened. The sound was more than just a single tone. And it didn't carry from next door, it came through the telegraph receiver in his room. Bell excitedly calls for Thomas to stick the reed back to the magnet and pull it off again,

and he cups his ear next to the receiver and listens carefully. Once more, he hears the twang, and there's no doubt about it. A proper, complex sound, and not just a single tone, traveled through the wire. The inventors rejoice at their breakthrough. Bell points out that they've discovered more than just a way to transmit different single frequency tones. They've developed a machine that can send a full spectrum of sounds across a wire. And then he thinks they can take their discovery one step further. Bell imagines that if they refine the machine, they could even transmit human voices.

The prospect drives Bell and Thomas to work tirelessly, refining and fine-tuning the invention they are calling a telephone. It's tedious, repetitive, and difficult. For eight months, they struggle to get their setup to transmit intelligible human speech. But Bell knows that other inventors are working on similar technology. technology. So before their invention is even complete, he instructs his attorney to put in a patent application to ensure he is credited as the inventor of the telephone. At noon on February 14, 1876,

Bell's lawyer, Marcellus Bailey, makes his way into the federal patent office in Washington, D.C. Marcellus walks to the front desk and explains his mission, handing over Bell's application to patent what he describes as an improvement in telegraphy. The clerk glances at the document, before placing them in the office's in basket and returning to his work. But Marcellus is not satisfied. Today's pile of patent applications already in the office's in basket is too high. He knows Bell is worried about other inventors beating him to the punch, so Marcellus insists that his client's application be filed immediately

and begrudgingly the clerk obliges. This expedited filing will prove consequential, because back in Boston, Marcellus and Bell will learn that the patent office received another application for a voice transmitting telegraph on the very same day. But even though Bell's application was filed a few hours earlier, the rival inventor will claim that his application actually arrived first, and this controversy will cast doubt on the proper recipient of the patent. But it will not deter Alexander Graham Bell. The Scotsman will remain set on bringing his invention to fruition before any competitors, and he will do all he can to make

sure his creation is better than any of his rivals, even if it means using potentially illegal means. It's early March 1876 in Washington, D.C., just over two weeks after Alexander Graham Bell's lawyer submitted a patent application. Zenas Fisk Wilbur sits behind his desk at the United States Patent Office and stares at two sets of documents. Each details a new invention, a way of transmitting speech through electric wires. As the patent examiner in charge of a electrical devices, it's Zina's job to judge the relative merits of the two conflicting applications before him. But today that duty has been complicated by a sudden arrival. Zinus clears his throat and looks up at the man sitting on the other side of his desk, Alexander Graham Bell.

Zinus is not supposed to discuss patent claims with the applicants, especially when there may be a conflict between parties. But Bell was insistent that he meet with Zinus today. As soon as his lawyer told him about the rival claim, Bell booked a train to Washington and rushed to the Patent Office to request a meeting. But before the inventor can begin pleading his case, Zinus outlines the problem he's facing. He understands that Bell has submitted an application for a new form of telegraph that can transmit speech. But on the same day, Elisha Gray, an engineer from Illinois, filed paperwork at the Patent Office for a remarkably similar invention. Bell cuts in, urging the Patent Examiner to overlook the unfortunate

timing and goes on to explain that he's been working on his invention for years and is close to a breakthrough. It would be a shame not to be awarded the patent now. Xenis nods sympathetically before extending an offer. He explains that Gray has submitted a patent caveat, essentially a provisional application, saying Gray has the theoretical knowledge to build a telephone but hasn't done so yet. On the other hand, Bell has submitted a full patent application, and that means he has physical proof that his telephone works. Assuming Bell has a functional telephone, Xenus says he will award the patent to him. He then looks at Bell questioningly, but the inventor doesn't respond. So Zinus asks outright, does Bell have an operational telephone? Bell remains silent for a moment and shifts uncomfortably.

Then it dawns on Zinus that Bell has not yet built a telephone that works. His patent application has been submitted too early. So Zinus declares that without a function, telephone to speak of. Their meeting is over. But Bell refuses to give up. As Zinus begins collecting his papers, the inventor reaches across the desk and holds Zinus sleeve. He asks whether it would be possible to check Gray's paperwork. Zinus frowns, explaining that would be a breach of the office's rules. But Bell's eyes flit down to the desk, and Zinus follows his gaze, seeing that $100 bill has appeared between them. Zinus pauses. This is a clear attempt at a bribe. But $100 is the same as his entire monthly salary.

After a moment's indecision, Zinus decides that allowing Bell a quick look at Gray's application wouldn't do any harm. Bell's patent application does, in theory, supersede Gray's caveat after all. So Zinis sweeps the bill into his pocket and heads for the door. He tells Bell that he's off for the bathroom, leaving the inventor free to inspect his rival's paperwork. Five minutes later, Zinus returns to his office, and Bell is still seated by the death.

looking pleased with himself. Then the inventor stands, shakes Zinus's hand, and announces he's returning to Boston. He promises evidence of his working prototype will be in the patent office soon. Zinus nods and says he'll send a letter to Gray, informing him that his patent caveat will be rejected since Bell has beaten him to making a functional telephone. A few days later, Thomas Watson hears footsteps running up the stairs to Bell's attic laboratory. He stands from his desk and leaves the equipment he was cleaning, to welcome his employer back, but he finds Bell is already hunched over his notebooks and

scribbling furiously. Thomas has seen Bell in similar moods before, and it usually means he's thought of a new idea. Thomas peers over Bell's shoulder at a diagram of their telephone. But as he looks closer, Thomas spots a new addition to the plans. Bell tells him that it's a dish of acidified water. He explains that the liquid may be able to transmit sound better than air, and it's possible that it could enable them to more precise vary the signals sent through their telephone. The resulting sound could be clear and perhaps help operators distinguish speech. Thomas thinks it's a clever idea and asks Bell how he came up with it. The inventor stutters and says it just popped into his head on the train ride home.

But the liquid transmitter likely is not Bell's own idea. It could have been gained illicitly from Elisha Gray's patent caveat. Nevertheless, armed with this new knowledge, Thomas and Bell will spend the next frenzied hours modifying their televised. telephone. And within only a few days of his meeting in the Patent Office, Bell will make history when he utters the first words transmitted in a telephone call. It's March 10, 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, three days after Alexander Graham Bell returned from the federal patent office. Once again, Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson stand in separate rooms in their attic laboratory, each working on their prototype telephone. But so far, they have not been able to transmit

any speech through them. Bell creeps to the door and quietly closes it. When he tests his telephone again, he doesn't want Thomas to hear his voice float from the room to room over the air. He wants to be sure that it's transmitted only through the wire. Sitting down and picking up the receiver of his telephone, Bell smiles as he leans in close and says, Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you. From the other room he hears a loud exclamation, and then Thomas burst through the door. He heard Bell's exact words and repeats the sentence back. The two men leap for joy. Bell moves into the receiver room and takes his turn, listening as Thomas picks up a book and begins reading the first page. Every word comes through, though occasionally muffled and indistinct, there is still

no doubt about it. Their telephone works. As word of their invention circulates, many celebrate the inventor's success, but one person takes offense. Claiming Bell stole his ideas, Elijah Gray takes the Scottish inventor to court, but Gray ultimately loses their legal battle. Bell remains credited as the inventor of the telephone, happily taking the glory for a device he is sure will change the world. But not everyone agrees with Bell's grand estimations of the telephone, at least not at first. When Bell forms a new telephone company in 1877, he offers shares to the nation's leading telegraph company, Western Union. But they scoff at his new invention and refuse to put in a penny. Just a year later, Western Union realizes its error

and offers bell $25 million for the patent rights to the telephone. But by then, it is too late. Within 40 years, a telephone network will traverse the entire United States. Twelve years after that, phone calls will be made across the Atlantic Ocean. Now, there are more telephones in the United States than there are people. Telephone communication has shrunked the world, allowing families to keep in touch around the globe and enabling businesses to close deals on the other side of the planet. All this and more became possible when Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call on March 10, 1876. Next on History Daily, March 11, 1973, in Greenwich Village, New York, the Gay Rights Campaign Group P-Flagg is formed by friends and family of gay men and women who want

to show support for their loved ones. From Noisor and Ayrship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazib, sound designed by Molly Bach, music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves, produced by Alexandra Curry Buckner. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.