Alexander receives telephone patent

On this day, Scottish-born American inventor Alexander Graham Bell received the patent for the creation of the telephone. On March 7, 1876, the US Patent Office awarded Bell with what is described as one of the most valuable patents in history, to create the first telephone.

The decision to grant Bell the patent was controversial, even at the time, as the question of priority of invention between Bell and another inventor, Elisha Gray, was sparked.

The two contested a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone, as Mr Gray filed a declaration of intent to file a patent for a similar device just two hours after Bell.