Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-American inventor and scientist who invented the practical telephone in 1876, fundamentally transforming human communication. Born into a family of speech therapists, with a deaf mother and wife, he devoted his life to helping the deaf communicate and researching the principles of sound transmission.
Bell founded the Bell Telephone Company, established the first urban telephone network, and made important contributions to optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. He also co-founded the National Geographic Society. The telephone made the world smaller, laying the foundation for the global telecommunications network that connects billions today.
