Who received U.S. patent 174,465 for the telephone?

Alexander Graham Bell received U.S. patent 174,465 for the telephone.

The U.S. Patent Office issued Bell’s patent on March 7, 1876. Its claims covered transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically by producing electrical undulations corresponding to sound vibrations. Bell’s work grew from experiments with acoustic telegraphy, an attempt to send multiple messages over one telegraph wire.

Bell’s patent is often presented as the end of the telephone-invention story, but the development was contested. Elisha Gray filed a telephone caveat on the same day Bell’s application was submitted, and other inventors, including Antonio Meucci and Thomas Edison, made important contributions. Bell nevertheless secured the patent and successfully defended its priority through numerous legal challenges.

Three days after the patent was issued, Bell transmitted the famous words “Mr. Watson, come here—I want to see you.” The patent did not mean Bell invented every component used in later telephones; improvements such as Edison’s carbon transmitter helped make telephone service practical over longer distances.