All language subtitles for The Machines That Built America s01e05 Telephone Wars.eng

(phone system dial tone)

‐ [Operator] Operator.

‐ [Narrator] It's the most
widely used device

on the planet.

‐ [Operator] This
is a recording.

‐ [Narrator] One‐and‐a‐half
billion are sold every year,

more than televisions,
computers, and cars combined,

generating $410 billion
in annual sales,

(crowd cheering)

and it's changed the
very fabric of our lives.

‐ I've been talking from here

all the way down to
the office downtown.

(phone key toning)

‐ I think Alexander Graham
bell would be shocked

to know what our phones
are capable of today.

‐ [Narrator] And while
it's evolved dramatically

over the past 150 years,
(computer modem dialing)

every version shares
one unifying feature.

‐ The ability to communicate
to someone through voice,

what a transformation
in human experience.

‐ [Narrator] But in 1874,

the telephone is just a dream
shared by two visionary men,

one forgotten by history‐

‐ He couldn't have described
my invention better

if he'd copied it.

‐ [Narrator] And the other,
who gets all the credit.

‐ Watson, come here.

‐ I heard you!

I heard what you said!

‐ [Narrator] Bitter rivals
who will stop at nothing

to make their vision a reality.

‐ Bell and Gray are watching
each other like hawks.

‐ [Narrator] This
is Telephone Wars.

‐ Ahoy?

(intense dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] It's 1871,

and the United States
is rapidly shifting

from an agricultural
society to one of industry.

‐ Life is moving fast and
things are changing fast.

During the Civil War,

the US government passes the
Transcontinental Railroad Act.

There's a real push
to bring America back

and to push westward
across the continent.

‐ [Narrator] And along with
the transcontinental railroad,

telegraph messages can
now reach coast to coast.

‐ One important thing about
almost all communications

and information technologies,

when these inventions
come along,

they're invariably used first
for business applications.

So, the telegraph is a really
important business tool

for coordinating
large‐scale industry.

‐ This was business.

This was important communiques.

But people weren't sending Dear
John letters via telegraph.

‐ You would have
to go to an office.

You wrote out a message.

You were charged by the symbol.

You wanted to keep it
short and it wasn't cheap.

‐ [Narrator] A 10‐word telegram

from New York to
Chicago costs a dollar,

$20 in today's money.

(pensive music)

And one company controls 90%
of the telegraph business:

Western Union.

Its president, William Orton,

rules an empire of
5,000 telegraph offices

and 137,000 miles of wire.

But Orton isn't satisfied.

‐ [William] Where
do we go from here?

‐ [Narrator] He wants
to increase his revenue,

and he's willing to pay for it.

‐ And so, Western
Union has a contest

asking inventors to come
forward with a system

that can transmit
multiple messages

across a single telephone line
and win a million dollars.

A million dollars at this time

is the equivalent of
about $20 million today,

so this is an enormous prize
and it gives you some sense

of just how important
this innovation would be

to Western Union.

‐ [Narrator] And one brash
immigrant from Scotland

reading about Orton's challenge

believes he can win the prize.

‐ [Alexander] A million dollars.

My God.

‐ [Narrator] His name is
Alexander Graham Bell.

‐ Bell was interested
in communication

of the human voice
from childhood.

His mother was deaf, his father
was a teacher of the deaf.

He gave a lot of thought
into how sound works,

how communication works.

It motivated a lot
of his early work.

‐ Bell started tinkering
at an early age.

While he was still a teenager,

he was reading and thinking
about new inventions.

He was starting to make his own.

He had that kind of
restless making urge.

(knocking on door)

‐ [Narrator] But
like many inventors,

he can't afford his own lab,

so he relies on his
local machine shop.

‐ Excuse me.

I wish to see the man
who made these devices.

‐ One moment.

‐ These devices were
not made correctly.

I'd like to know
who worked on them.

‐ That was me, but I had
no idea what they were for.

If you told me more,
perhaps I could do better?

(soft electronic music)

‐ They're for transmitting
sound over a wire,

a way to send more
telegraph messages.

‐ Bell says, "I think
I can do something

"with sound waves
and electricity

"and figure out how you could
send two, three, four messages

"over a wire at the same time."

‐ [Narrator] The shop
worker Bell confronts

is 20‐year‐old Thomas Watson.

‐ When Alexander Graham
Bell meets Thomas Watson,

he wasn't looking for this guy.

It was a chance meeting.

But they connect.

They are two sides of a coin.

Bell is a kind of dreamer.

He's the idea person.

Thomas Watson is an engineer

and he's someone who can see
how to take those raw ideas

and mold them, transform them.

‐ [Narrator] One day,
the pair will create

a revolutionary new
communication system using sound

that will become the foundation

of a $180‐billion company with
more than 200,000 employees.

But for now, Bell
just wants to win

Western Union's challenge.

He thinks he may have
cracked it with a system

he calls harmonic telegraphy,
if he can get it to work.

‐ Bell's idea for the
harmonic telegraph

is that one set of wires

will be connected to dozens
of transceivers on each end.

Each transceiver is operating
at a different frequency,

so simultaneous
messages can be sent

over the same set of wires.

‐ [Narrator] But
Alexander Graham Bell

is not the only one vying
for the million‐dollar prize.

A thousand miles to the west,

prolific inventor Elisha Gray,

with nearly 70
patents to his name‐

‐ That's all I need for today.

‐ [Narrator] Already
has a cozy relationship

with Western Union.

‐ Gray is very
fastidious, he is driven,

he is an inventor, and
he's very hands‐on.

‐ [Narrator] He also has
been trying to figure out

how to send multiple messages
along a single telegraph wire,

with no luck.

(high‐pitched tones)

‐ Charles?

What are you doing?

‐ [Narrator] Then, in 1874,

Gray discovers his nephew
playing with an electrotome.

‐ The electrotome is a device

that was used in
the 19th century

to "cure" various elements
with an electric shock.

‐ Gray notices that by
holding the electrotome's wand

in one hand and touching the
metal tub with the other‐

‐ Let me try it.

(high‐pitched toning)

‐ [Narrator] He can generate
sounds at different pitches,

like a musical instrument.

(pensive music)

Like Bell, Gray believes
transmitting messages

at different frequencies
could be the way

to send multiple
telegraphs over one line.

To refine his theory,

Gray attaches an electrified
plate to a violin.

Gray's new device is
one of the world's first

electronic musical instruments
and he's awarded a patent.

He is able to play different
tones from his instrument.

Now, he needs to figure
out how to transmit them.

(slow dramatic music)

Gray's cutting‐edge invention

is widely written
up in the paper

and catches Bell's attention.

He now realizes Gray is
not only a competitor,

but ahead of him.

‐ Signal to 1A.

‐ [Narrator] Bell goes all in

on trying to build a
working harmonic telegraph

before Gray can do it first.

‐ No signal on 1A.

‐ Signal to 2B.

‐ [Narrator] But no
matter what he tries,

Bell can't get it to work.

‐ [Thomas] No signal on 2B.

‐ [Narrator] And
his hope of winning

Western Union's million‐dollar
prize is slipping away.

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] At the height
of the Industrial Revolution,

America is also
expanding westward.

It becomes increasingly clear

for businesses to survive
this rapid growth,

they need better and
faster ways to communicate.

‐ Most communication
in mankind's history

is about shortening
distance and time.

"How quickly can I
get a message there

"and over what distance?"

This is the great challenge.

(crickets chirping)

‐ [Narrator] Alexander
Graham Bell is among the many

vying to win a lucrative
prize from Western Union.

‐ I'm sending a signal to 2B.

‐ [Narrator] He
and his colleague,

Thomas Watson, are
still struggling

to make their harmonic
telegraph system work.

‐ No signal on 2B.

‐ [Narrator] And they're
almost out of funds.

(pensive music)

‐ Bell had no money.

He didn't have a lot of backing.

For a long time, he was really
living kinda hand to mouth.

‐ What pays the bills is he
teaches people who can't hear.

‐ [Narrator] Thanks to that job,

he's about to get a lifeline.

‐ Thank you.

Senator, this is
my daughter Mabel.

‐ [Narrator] One of Bell's
students is the daughter

of prominent Boston lawyer
Gardiner Greene Hubbard.

He's spent years
lobbying Congress

to make the telegraph a
public utility like the mail,

but with little success.

‐ In 1870, Western
Union controls

an astonishing 90% of
the telegraph market.

William Orton is a
19th‐century colossus

who essentially runs an empire

that can charge exorbitant rates

and to which people
are at his mercy,

and that's gonna make
him very unpopular.

‐ Let's have lunch next
time I'm in Washington.

‐ [Narrator] Hubbard
wants nothing more

than to take Orton down.

‐ I'm going to
invest in your work

on one condition.

You drop out of Orton's contest

and work on a new
telegraph system for me.

‐ Understood.

‐ Hubbard becomes one of
Bell's chief benefactors.

‐ Gardiner Greene
Hubbard recognizes

in Alexander Graham Bell,
a potential goldmine.

‐ [Narrator] But while
Bell needs the money,

he has bigger aspirations.

‐ At some time, I would very
much like to discuss with you

my ideas about
voice transmission.

‐ I understand, son,

but the priority is
your harmonic telegraph.

I suspect Mr. Gray
is moving very fast.

There may, however,

be a way to (pausing)
slow him down.

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] In Chicago,
unaware he has a rival in Bell,

Elisha Gray is racing to
win Western Union's prize.

In February 1875,

Gray files a patent for his
harmonic telegraph system,

even though he hasn't
actually built it yet.

‐ A patent doesn't mean that
you have to have that device

ready‐made so that you can
show it to the patent examiner.

(pensive music)

‐ [Gardiner] Gray is getting
close to securing the prize.

He has to be stopped.

‐ Hubbard doesn't let Gray's
patent application stop him.

He hires a lawyer to lean
on a DC patent official

named Zenas Wilber.

‐ Wilber had personal struggles.

He was an alcoholic.

Later on, he was an embezzler.

He was a little bit
of a desperate figure.

‐ I'm sure in a few months

I'll be able to
reimburse you in full.

I will make it up to you.

‐ In the 1870s, the
unregulated world of patents

is ripe for corruption.

People had the opportunity
to make enormous fortunes,

but also graft and
corruption at a scale

unlike any other period
in American history.

‐ So, there are then a
bunch of maneuverings

in the patent office,

some of which we know
about and are above board

and some of which
we don't know about

and are not sure if
they're above board.

‐ Mail this, please.

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] After two months,

Gray still hasn't heard
if his patent is approved.

In the meantime, he discovers
something startling:

A rival has applied
for a similar patent.

‐ "The United States Patent
Office is informing you

"of a patent interference

"involving your application
for musical telegraph."

Signed, "Patent Examiner
Zenas F. Wilber."

How could Wilber issue
Bell's patent so quickly?

I've read Bell's claim,
and it seems to me

he couldn't have described
my invention better

if he'd copied it.

‐ Personally, I would
go for the kill.

I'm a nice guy 'til
somebody punches me,

and then I'm gonna
punch back three times.

‐ [Narrator] For
a frustrated Gray,

months of research and hard work

seem gone without explanation.

Then, he finds new inspiration

that puts him back in
competition with Bell.

‐ Can you hear my voice?

(deep electrronic music)

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] Alexander
Graham Bell's powerful allies

have secured patent
approval for a new device

that can send multiple
telegraph messages at once.

The only problem:

he still hasn't
successfully built it.

‐ Mr. Watson, can
you come here please?

This connection is not working.

‐ [Travis] Just having the idea

is only part of the effort.

Someone has to know
how to build this idea.

(dramatic music)

(crickets chirping)

‐ Maybe we should just
quit for the night.

‐ No.

Let's see if we
can get it working.

I'll disconnect the battery.

(invigorating music)

What did you just do?

‐ I'm unplugging the
read to get unstuck.

‐ Don't stop.

Keep plucking.

‐ [W] He not only hears

the fundamental
frequency of the reed

that his assistant is plucking,

he hears a whole range of
harmonic tones and overtone.

(invigorating music)

‐ [Narrator] Bell is trying
to transmit a simple vibration

to build his harmonic telegraph,

but stumbles onto
something even better.

‐ We can do it.

‐ Do what?

‐ We can transmit a voice!

‐ [Travis] This was
the eureka moment.

Bell essentially mimicked

how the inner ear
and the human brain

interprets and measure sound.

‐ [Narrator] Bell is now
able to send complex sounds

over a telegraph wire.

It's the first step toward
a working telephone.

‐ [W] With the right sort of
microphone or transmitter,

you can basically carry
the voice over the wire

and then it's translated back
into sound at the receiver.

(invigorating music)

‐ [Narrator] A
thousand miles away,

still working to resolve
the interference claim,

Elisha Gray continues
on his elusive quest

for Western Union's prize,

but something distracts
the famed inventor.

‐ Hello, boy.

Sorry to bother you.

Would you mind if I had a try?

Can you hear my voice?

‐ Yes sir, I can hear you.

(dramatic orchestral music)

Hello, hello?

‐ [Christopher] Gray
started to think,

well, could the
thing that's moving

between the two points
be an electrical signal

rather than just a
physical vibration?

‐ [Narrator] It's the same
breakthrough just made by Bell.

Gray quickly begins work on
his version of the telephone.

And after learning that Bell
is also pursuing the same goal,

he's desperate to beat him.

‐ Bell and Gray are watching
each other like hawks.

They know that
they're both

working on similar
message systems

that are going to take
advantage of tones or sounds.

‐ [Narrator] But there's
one piece of the puzzle

they're both struggling with:

how to make the transmitter.

Gray believes he's
found the key.

In early 1876, he files
his patent for a telephone

with a liquid transmitter.

Worried Bell might
be ahead of him,

he travels to Washington

to deliver his
application in person.

(upbeat music)

‐ [Christopher] Gray's
patent application

comes in at the intake office,

sets it aside,

ready to enter in the
log book for the day.

‐ [W] Gray's is buried down
on the bottom of the pile

because he comes
early in the morning,

a bunch of other
applications come in.

‐ [David] Bell's
savvy patent attorney

finds out about it and says,

"Alexander, we need to get
down to the patent office

"and get that patent in."

‐ [Narrator] Bell too has
solved his transmitter problem

using magnets.

He and Hubbard
traveled to Washington

to file his own patent with
their inside man, Zenas Wilber.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Zenas] Take a look at this.

Gray's patent application.

Take it.

‐ One of the questions
about what happened that day

is how Bell's patent
changed as a result.

‐ [David] In the
border, he writes in

what amounts to a description
of Gray's technology.

(dramatic music)

Bell's attorney demands that
the clerk stamp it right there

and put it in the register book,

that way securing Bell's claim

to have been the first to
patent this transmitter.

That's enormous for the future
of the patent of a device

that will transform the world.

(invigorating music)

‐ They're approving
Bell's patent?

‐ [Narrator] Once again,
Bell beats Gray to the punch.

‐ [Travis] Gray is
wanting to sue over this.

His lawyer tells him
it's not worth it.

Can you imagine
looking back in time,

giving up the patent
rights to the telephone?

‐ [James] Elisha Gray was
a real engineering genius,

but he wasn't someone
with the drive

to be an
entrepreneurial success.

He didn't have the
killer instinct.

‐ [Narrator] Elisha Gray's
allies aren't giving up

without a fight.

Bell has the patent,

but he still hasn't created
a working telephone.

(dramatic music)

‐ Ah, Watson. It's
finished I take it?

‐ [Watson] Yes, sir. I'm here.

‐ [Narrator]
Alexander Graham Bell

is granted his telephone
patent in 1876,

but he still needs to
create a working prototype

and he feels the
pressure to work fast.

(upbeat music)

But after a long year
of trial and error,

trying to transmit his voice...

‐ This connection
is not working.

‐ [Narrator] Bell
begins to lose hope.

(dramatic music)

‐ Watson, come here.
I want to see you.

‐ I heard you. I
heard what you said.

‐ What did I say?

‐ You said, "Watson, come here.

"I want to see you."

‐ Switch places.

(dramatic orchestral music)

‐ Uh, Mr. Bell,

do you understand
what I say?

(dramatic orchestral music)

(laughing)

‐ [Travis] Before Bell, the
telegram was the only way

for real‐time communications

and it was sending
simple messages

in dots and dashes
in morse code.

Imagine that compared to
actually being able to hear

a real voice on either end.

That's something
that many more people

would be excited about

and it actually tied
humanity together.

(beeping)

‐ [Narrator] Bell's vision will
revolutionize communication,

creating an industry
that connects the world

in ways he never dreamed.

But first, he must
persuade Hubbard

to give up competing
with Western Union

and back his invention.

‐ [Alexander] I think we're
really onto something here.

‐ [Gardiner] Voices you say?

‐ [Alexander] Yes.

And if we can
refine the process,

this could replace
the telegraph.

‐ [Gardiner] What is
this going to cost me?

‐ This was not what
Gardiner Greene Hubbard

had signed up for.

He had signed up for
like a quick invention

that would get a patent.

‐ [Travis] Fortunately for Bell,

Hubbard actually
has the foresight

to realize that this telephone

might be even larger of an
idea than the telegraph.

‐ [Narrator] Hubbard insists

they should promote
Bell's new device

and he knows just
where to do it.

In the spring of 1876,

Philadelphia hosts a
massive World's Fair

to celebrate the centennial.

Some 10 million people attend.

‐ These World's Fairs
were a collective national

pats on the back,

but they were also
promotional events

for people who had some new idea

and they wanted
to show the world

what they could do.

You could call them
consumer trade shows.

And if you can
impress the audience,

then perhaps you can make your
product eventually a reality.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] Bell's
telephone demonstration

includes a familiar face.

‐ [Elisha] Mr. Bell.

‐ Mr. Gray.

(dramatic music)

Gentlemen and lady,

I invite you to listen
on this receiver here.

I will transmit my voice
from a device down the hall.

‐ [Narrator] It's
the moment of truth

for Bell's new invention.

If it works, it
has the potential

to revolutionize communication

and earn Bell and
Hubbard a fortune.

‐ [Alexander] To be or not
to be, that is the question.

‐ [Travis] Put yourself
in Gray's shoes.

How calm would you have remained

if you would've
been sitting there,

seeing your life's
work in front of you?

(invigorating music)

‐ [Alexander] Aye,
there's the rub.

‐ I believe I heard him say,

"Aye, there's the rub."

‐ [Narrator] Bell's device
captivates the public,

earning him the
exhibition's top prize.

‐ [David] People can't believe

what they're seeing and hearing.

The fact that human
voices seem to be emerging

from this contraption.

It's beyond magical.

(invigorating music)

‐ [Alexander] Thank you.

‐ I give you credit.

My submission to the patent
office had a similar idea,

but of course I hadn't
actually built a telephone.

‐ [Narrator] It looks
like Gray is defeated,

but he still has a powerful ally

in Western Union
President, William Orton,

who wants to wage war on Bell

and he's bringing
in the big guns.

‐ I think you know, Edison.

(dramatic music)

(intense music)

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] Just one year after
Bell presents his telephone

at the centennial
celebration in Philadelphia,

his new device begins to
pop up in select locations.

‐ The inventory's ready!

‐ [Narrator] Including the place

where Bell first met Watson,

his local machine
shop in Boston.

‐ Usually, the early adopters

were only making a call
to a couple of places

not far from home.

They might be doctors who
wanted to connect themselves

to a hospital,

to receive calls in
the middle of the night

or business people
who were wealthy,

who often wanted a single line

from their house to
their place of work.

‐ Making a telephone
call could be an ordeal

in the early days.

For one thing,

you didn't just
pick up the receiver

and ask the operator,

connect me with such and
such and you'd get connected.

It would be a call connection
delay, could take time.

‐ [Narrator] And the quality
of the call is terrible.

‐ People described the sounds
of these early telephones

as being filled with
other people's voices,

crosstalk, weird sounds
of like wind and static,

weird high‐pitch
sounds like chirping.

You had to yell to
make yourself heard.

And the further the line went,

the signal got
quieter and quieter.

‐ [Narrator] Some
are just plain scared

of the new technology.

‐ There was something
called telephone terror,

which was a fear of
picking up this thing

and talking into it.

And it was widespread.

‐ Goodbye!

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] Bell's
investor isn't afraid.

He knows Bell's invention
needs vast improvement,

but he sees a windfall.

On July 9th, 1877,

the Bell Telephone
Company launches

with Hubbard as president

and Bell as chief electrician
and largest shareholder.

It will eventually become known

as the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company, AT&T.

(dramatic music)

As the business community
begins embracing the telephone,

Western Union president, William
Orton, realizes this toy,

as he once called it,

could soon replace the telegraph

and take down his
multi‐billion dollar

communications monopoly.

‐ What does he do?

He reaches out to one of the
greatest inventors of all time.

(pensive music)

‐ I think you know, Edison.

(pensive music)

‐ Thomas Edison,

and he brings him on board

and there's a race now underway.

He's hoping that Thomas
Edison can help Western Union

beat Bell to the punch

and come up with a better
telecommunication system

that will serve business.

(pensive music)

‐ I think Edison
here can help us

make a better
telephone than Bell.

‐ [William] What
about the patents?

‐ I'll deal with the patents.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] In just
a few short months,

Edison devises a game
changing innovation

to Gray's and Bell's
original telephone designs.

His upgraded transmitter
offers callers

a much clearer line
of communication.

‐ Very often, it's
better to be second

and see what the
other guy has done,

learn from his or her mistakes

and build a better mouse trap.

(dramatic music)

‐ Orton forms the American
Speaking Telegraph Company

to compete.

By combining Gray
and Edison's work

Western Union now
has a better phone

and a built‐in infrastructure
of telegraph lines.

(dramatic music)

Bell Telephone sues for
patent infringement.

(dramatic music)

Orton is ready for the fight.

(dramatic music)

But fate steps in.

He suffers a stroke and dies.

Without Orton, his lawyers
settle the lawsuit.

‐ Personally, I don't think
Orton would have settled.

I think Orton would
have fought it out

because I think
Orton was confident that,

that he could manage the
technology in such a way

that he could have a
very sophisticated,

very successful network.

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] In 1884,

just a decade after
Bell first began

pursuing his new invention,

workers set thousands of poles
to string long distance lines

between Boston and New York.

It's the first major step
toward a national system.

But Bell isn't
enjoying his success,

as his patent is challenged
more than 600 times.

The constant allegations of
stealing his rival's design

and fending off
patent challenges

takes more than just an
emotional toll on Bell.

They threaten to destroy
his entire business.

And he's about to face his
greatest challenge, yet.

(dramatic music)

(pensive music)

‐ [Narrator] It's 1886, and
the Bell Telephone Company

now has over 19,000 subscribers,

114,000 miles of telephone wire

and is bringing in
$3 million a year,

the equivalent of
$85 million, today.

But they're about to face
the greatest legal challenge

to their patent, yet.

‐ One of the companies
that's a Bell rival,

which is called the
Pan‐Electric Company,

tries to recruit the United
States government against Bell.

It does eventually go forward.

The Department of
Justice sets up a team

to fight Bell.

‐ [Narrator] And they have a
star witness on their side.

Zenas Wilbur, the former
US patent examiner

who approved Bell's
telephone patent

over rival, Elisha Gray's.

(dramatic music)

On May 22nd, the Washington Post

prints Wilber's
bombshell confession.

‐ [Zenas Voiceover] "I am
convinced that, by my action

"while Examiner of Patents that,

"Elisha Gray was deprived
of proper opportunity

"to establish his right to the
invention of the telephone".

(dramatic music)

‐ Wilber says, this was
all completely corrupt.

He says, Bell's lawyers

had me disclose Gray's
invention to them.

Bell wrote some
of that invention

into his own patent application.

The other piece of evidence
which comes out much later

is a handwritten copy
of Bell's patent,

where there's a section
that's written up the margin

as though it wasn't in the
original and it's been added.

‐ [Narrator] But Wilbur's
claim doesn't stop there.

He says that as
Bell was leaving,

he slipped him a
hundred dollar bill.

‐ Wilbur, at this point,
is not a credible witness.

He's an alcoholic.

He's dissolute.

He's changed his
story various times,

but he provides ammunition
for Bell's enemies to claim,

all of this was a fraud.

‐ [Narrator] The case goes all
the way to the Supreme Court

where the final decision is
a razor thin, four to three,

in Bell's favor.

This will be the last major
challenge to Bell's patent,

and the last statement
from Zenas Wilbur

before he goes to his grave.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Zenas Voiceover]
"I am fully aware

"that this will be
denied by professor Bell,

"but nevertheless, it is true."

‐ [Narrator] In 1901,

25 years after submitting
his own telephone patent,

Elisha Gray writes a letter
to a magazine editor,

staking his claim.

‐ [Elisa Voiceover] "I
was wrong in assuming

"and believing professor Bell
had fairly made his invention.

"Mr. Bell, having
obtained my secrets,

"claimed my discovery as his own

"and by this means, got
credit for my invention".

‐ [Narrator] One week
later, Gray dies.

(dramatic music)

‐ The Bell Gray controversy
continues to animate people

and the excitement of
telling the stories

about the machines
that built America

is understanding that
in any given moment,

it isn't one individual
versus another,

but it's the give and take

between friends, between
allies, between enemies,

between rivals, that
competition between them

that makes the invention
such an interesting story.

‐ [Narrator] The invention
Bell and Gray battled over

will go on to help revolutionize
global communication

beyond either man's
wildest dreams.

(dramatic music)

‐ It domesticated this idea.

It made telecommunications,
over time,

utterly necessary for many
aspects of daily life.

That machine, including
all the wires,

all the exchanges,

spun off so many
important inventions

like the transistor,
subminiature vacuum tubes,

microphones.

‐ It's a device that
many of us sleep next to.

It's the first thing we
check when we wake up.

And the last thing we
check when we go to sleep.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] Bell
becomes a celebrity.

In 1915, the 67‐year‐old

makes the ceremonial first
trans continental phone call

from New York to San Francisco.

His trusted friend, Thomas
Watson, is on the other end.

Bell's status, as
father of the telephone,

is now firmly embedded in
the American consciousness.

‐ It's an astonishing story.

It's a remarkable achievement
of human creativity

to make it possible for
you to pick up a device,

decide who you want to speak to,

in any other part,

well, of the country,
the city, now, the world,

and to be able to
actually to do it.

It's astonishing.

It takes my breath away.

‐ Ahoy.

(pensive music)

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