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Birth
Born in Edinburg, Scotland to parents Alexander Melville Bell and Eliza Grace. -
First Invention
At age 12, Bell created built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple dehusking machine that was put into operation and used steadily for a number of years. This helped him out in the flour mill. -
Telephone
Bell was the first to obtain a patent for an "apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically", after experimenting with many primitive sound transmitters and receivers. Bell was also an astute and articulate businessman with influential and wealthy friends. -
Legacy
Bell received the Volta Prize with a purse of 50,000 francs (approximately US$260,000 in today's dollars[168]) for the invention of the telephone from the Académie française, representing the French government. -
Death
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, at age 75
