Did Alexander Graham Bell invent the telephone?

When we were young, our science teacher most likely told us that the inventor of the telephone is none other than Alexander Graham Bell. But is that really the case?1876

Alexander Bell submitted his patent in 1876. However, as early as 1834, Antonio Meucci had already named and created the first working telephone. Even though the telephone then could not properly transmit conversations across the line, the creation formed significant foundation for Alexander Bell. Meucci's evidence in this case was disputed due to lack of material evidence of his inventions as his working models were reportedly lost at the Western Union laboratory.

That was not the only challenge Alexander Bell faced. While he was working on his invention, another scientist Elisha Gray was also working on his version of the telephone. The patent caveats of both parties were submitted on the same day and there were considerable debates on who came first. Eventually it was Bell's caveat that came first and he received the patent of the telephone.

This case study of the invention of the telephone provides us an important inspirational pointer. Without strong persistence, Bell wouldn't be able to be known as the inventor of the telephone as we know today. He encountered more than 50 other lawsuits and managed to win all of them. And therefore his legacy prevails...

What about you? Have you been giving up frequently? After reading the story of the invention of the telephone, I hope that you would be motivated to keep your course and wish you success!

For those keen to find out more about the History of the Telephone, you can follow this link: http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/telephone.htm

Poking the Iron Ball

A very powerful motivational speaker is going to retire. Therefore, when he said he's going to give his last seminar, everyone thronged the box office and snatched all the seats.

On that very day of the seminar, the whole auditorium was packed with his readers, loyal fans, reporters and people who came to just learn from this powerful motivational speaker.

There was a huge and heavy Iron Ball on the stage. Arriving 15 minutes late, the speaker took his time to stroll down the aisle while the audience cheered on.

It was unusual in that the speaker did not have any microphone with him. He didn't greet the audience too. Instead he took out his pen from his pocket and began to poke the Iron Ball softly with the pen.

At the start, everyone was amazed. Everyone tried to predict what he wanted to show. However, after 30 min, 1 hour, 1 hour and 30 min, people started to leave their seats. Some had even thrown their programme brochures at the speaker for wasting their time. But the speaker continued to perform the same activity. Only a handful of people was still engrossed in the act.

At the 2nd hour, something happened. The 1-tonne Iron Ball began to turn and roll. No backstage crew could stop the ball from rolling.

The speaker then said, "The few of you here that see this happen had learnt the most. In life, you just need to keep doing and persist on, and you will achieve greatly!"