Alexander Graham Bell

ByAndrew Freibert

Alexander Graham BellEarly Life

Date and Place of Birth

• Born March 3, 1847

• Edinburgh, Scotland

• He had the same name and birthday as his grandfather, Alexander Bell.

Alexander Graham BellEarly Life

Childhood• Alexander was not given a middle

name. • He chose his middle name to be

Graham after meeting a friend in Cuba at age 11.

• Alexander’s nickname was Alek.

Alexander Graham BellEarly Life

Education• Alek Bell attended universities in

London and Edinburgh. • At fifteen Alek moved to his

grandfather’s house in London. • There Alek was home schooled for one

year. • Alek thought learning was exciting with

his grandfather.

Alexander Graham BellAdulthood

Family• Alek had a father, mother, a brother

Melville and a little brother Edward• Edward died in 1876 of tuberculosis.

Three years later, • Melville died of the same disease.• Late in Alek’s life he married a lady

named Mable Hubbard.

Alexander Graham BellAdulthood

Occupation• Alek had two good jobs. • He was a very good inventor and

he was a speech teacher at the University of Boston.

Alexander Graham BellInteresting Facts

Contributions• In 1872, Alek Bell opened up a school at the

University of Boston, to teach deaf people to speak.

• Did you know that Alek worked with Helen Keller?

• Helen Keller dedicated her autobiography to him writing, “To Alexander Graham Bell who taught the deaf to speak…”

Alexander Graham BellInteresting FactsHelen Keller with Alexander Graham Bell

• Bell worked with Helen Keller when she was a young adult.

• Keller motivated Bell to invent the telephone.

• This is Alexander Graham Bell making a call to Watson who is across the country.

Alexander Graham BellInteresting Facts

Contributions• Teaching the deaf to speak was one of

his most important accomplishments.• Alek Bell had many contributions

besides inventing the telephone. • He also invented the speed boat, the

photo phone, and the metal detector.

Alexander Graham BellInteresting Facts

Ways Person is remembered• Alexander G. Bell is best remembered for the

invention of the telephone in 1876. • He and his partner, Thomas Watson,

successfully completed the first phone call saying the famous line, “Come here Watson, I want you.”

• On January 25, 1915, that same line was successfully spoken on a telephone from the east coast to west coast of the United States. Watson was in Sacramento, CA and Bell was in New York.

Alexander Graham BellInteresting Facts

Date of Death• August 2, 1922• When Alexander Bell died, the

nation silenced the phones ringing for one minute to honor the man who made phones possible. (www.ask.com)

Alexander Graham Bell's notebook entry of March 10, 1876 describes his successful experiment with the telephone-- speaking through the instrument to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in the next room. Copied from

Ask.com

Citations

• Alexander Graham Bell. “About.Com Inventors”, About.Com. 10.28.08, http://Inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltelephone2.htm

• Unknown. “Alexander Graham Bell.” Gardenofpraise.com. Garden of Praise, 9.28.08, http://gardenofpraise.com/idbell.htm