Telephone and telegraph pioneers

Alexander Bain invented the fax machine in 1843 and the chemical telegraph in 1846

Emile Baudot invented the Baudot code for telegraphy in 1870

Alexander Graham Bell founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885

Charles Bourseul wrote a memorandum on the transmission of the human voice by electric currents in 1854.  It was first published in the magazine L'Illustration (Paris), though no prototype was built.

William Fothergill Cooke was co-inventor of the Cooke-Wheatstone electric telegraph, which was patented in 1837

Frederick George Creed was a key figure in the development of the teleprinter in the early 1900s

Elisha Gray developed a telephone prototype in 1876

Antonio Meucci experimented with voice communication in the 1870s.  He is recognized in Italy as "Official inventor of the telephone".

Samuel Morse developed Morse code for telegraphy

Johann Philipp Reis made the Reis telephone in 1861

Almon Brown Strowger invented the first automatic telephone exchange in 1889

Charles Wheatstone was co-inventor of the Cooke-Wheatstone electric telegraph, which was patented in 1837

 

Entertainers

Crystal Hayes singing Mind Control - watch out for the phone box at 3 minutes 50 seconds