Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847 in , Scotland. His father was an expert in , the study of the sounds of languages. As a boy, Bell
became in sounds and speech.
ln 187O the Bells decided to America. They lived in Boston, where Alexander taught in a school for . There he began with a machine to help the deaf hear.
While experimenting with this , Bell had an idea. Why not use to send the human voice from one place to another? Bell began work on a new invention.
For years Bell and his assistant, Thomas Watson, worked day and night. They rented rooms in a boardinghouse. Bell was on one floor, and Watson was on another. They tried to send through a wire. Finally, on March 19, 1876, Watson heard these words very clearly: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you." Watson rushed upstairs, ran into Bell's room, and shouted, .
That year was the centennial, or 100th birthday, of the United States. There was a large fair in Philadelphia, called the Centennial Exposition. One of the main attractions at the exposition was Bell's . Thousands of visitors, including Don Pedro, the emperor of Brazil, were when they saw-and heard-this invention. But they still thought it was just an interesting toy. They didn't know that one day this talking machine would become and would change people's lives.
