The young professor was working in his workshop in a narrow street Boston, not far from Scollay Square. It was a very hot afternoon in June, but the man did not notice. He was totally absorbed in his strange machine which he had been working on for about three years. Suddenly he heard an almost in audible sound, the first sound ever transmitted through a wire. The machine was the very first telephone and the young man was Alexander Graham Bell.
Although he was only 28 years old at the time, Alexander had been working in the fields of speech, anatomy, electricity and telegraphy for over 11 years. In fact, his whole family had been involved in the study of speech and sounds. Alexander's father had also written several books on how to speak correctly as well as creating a from of sign language called 'visible speech'.
At the age of 16 Alexander started to help teach young deaf mutes; children who could not hear or speak. He used his father's system of 'visible speech' and achieved amazing results. A few years later, while working in London, Alexander met to men who would play an important role in his life.