Antonio Meucci was an Italian inventor who emigrated to the United States and, working in Staten Island, New York, built voice-transmitting devices he called a teletrofono during the 1850s and 1860s, connecting his home to his workshop and, briefly, to a doctor's office in an early telemedicine experiment. He filed only a renewable caveat rather than a full patent in 1871 and could not afford to renew it, and in 2002 the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring his contribution without overturning Alexander Graham Bell's patent.
Facts
FAQs
Was Antonio Meucci the real inventor of the telephone?
It is disputed: the U.S. House honored his work in 2002, but Bell holds the patent.
That depends on what counts as the invention, and the record is disputed. Meucci filed a patent caveat for his telephonic device with the U.S. Patent Office in 1871, but it did not mention electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound. Alexander Graham Bell was granted the patent for that in 1876. In 2002 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution acknowledging Meucci's work in the invention of the telephone, but the Senate did not join it and how to read the resolution is itself disputed. Bell remains the officially credited patentee.
Connections
Associated With
Developed early voice-transmitting apparatus in the same period as the telephone invention.
In Field
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Held Differently
Microphone, Inventions Why this is disputed. Developed an early dynamic microphone in 1856, based on moving a coil of wire in a magnetic field; a distinct design from the liquid transmitter later credited to Bell and Gray in 1876.
Source Microphone (Wikipedia)
The Telephone, Inventions Why this is disputed. Meucci demonstrated working voice-transmission devices roughly two decades before Bell's 1876 patent but lacked the funds to complete and maintain a full patent; the 2002 US House resolution recognized his work without legally disturbing Bell's patent.
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
Long-Form Articles
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954View the Source Technology: A World History
Antonio Meucci (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationPatent caveat: Conflicting opinions of Meucci biographers
On 28 December 1874, Meucci's Telettrofono patent caveat expired. Critics dispute the claim that Meucci could not afford to file for a patent or renew his caveat, as he filed for and was granted full patents in 1872, 1873, 1875, and 1876, at the cost of $35 each, as well as one additional $10 patent caveat, all totaling $150, for inventions unrelated to the telephone.
- In Group: Telecommunications and Radio Engineers, lead paragraph: telecom/radio/television invention or advance stated in own article
View the Source Microphone (Wikipedia)
WikipediaInvented: Microphone, History section (Meucci dynamic microphone)Quote, Invented: Microphone, History section (Meucci dynamic microphone)
In 1856, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci developed a dynamic microphone based on the generation of electric current by moving a coil of wire to various depths in a magnetic field.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Invented: The Telephone
Antonio Meucci demonstrated working voice-transmission devices in New York in the 1850s and 1860s, roughly two decades before Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 patent, and set up an agreement in December 1871 with associates including the Italian Consulate's Angelo Zilio Grandi to form the Telettrofono Company around his invention, but he lacked the funds to renew the patent caveat he had filed and never completed a full patent. In 2002, on the initiative of US Representative Vito Fossella, the US House of Representatives passed House Resolution 269, stating that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged. The resolution is a statement of historical recognition; it did not reopen or disturb Bell's legal patent, which stands as the instrument that actually secured telephone rights.
A dissenting reading, from US House Resolution 269 (2002) and Meucci biographersWikipedia contributors, Antonio Meucci (Wikipedia), Wikimedia Foundation
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