Special to the HT
Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish immigrant, is credited with the invention of the telephone. He was not alone in the field. He fought off many lawsuits before being awarded his American patent. The first commercial use was in Germany in 1877. The first American telephone exchange was in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1878. Western Union, using Edison’s superior carbon microphone, quickly entered the market. As a telegraph company already owning wires…