Okay, so how many of you grew up learning that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone?  I know I did.  Well, we were taught wrong.  And just to prove it, on this date in 2002, the House of Representatives voted to pass Resolution 269.   It recognized the rightful inventor of the telephone–Antonio Meucci of Italy.   To make a long story short, Meucci moved from Italy and invented a primitive “telephone,” but he did not have a good command of the English language to interest anyone or to even file a patent.  Interestingly enough, Alexander Graham Bell, who shared a lab with Meucci, filed his own patent.

I find all of this incredibly interested, but I’m a bit perturbed.  I would like to know why Congress had the time to pass such a resolution.  I know this was eleven years ago, but why did they waste their time with this sort of thing?  I would think that they had plenty more important things to do than passing s resolution about who invented the telephone.  Maybe I have my priorities askew.   Or (perish the thought) maybe they do!

For more information:

http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/newsletters/read/1378

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/heroes-villains/antonio-meucci.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Meucci#2002_congressional_resolution

http://famousdaily.com/history/antonio-meucci-invents-telephone.html