Gray, Elisha (People)
Gray, Elisha
Elisha Gray (1835-1901), an American inventor, is famous for contesting the original invention of the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell. On Feb. 14, 1876, the day Bell filed an application for a patent for the telephone, Gray applied for a caveat announcing his intention to file a claim for a patent for the same invention within three months. After years of litigation, Bell was legally named as inventor of the telephone, although some still questioned who should be credited with the invention. Gray was granted patents for approximately 70 other inventions, including the telautograph (1888), an electrical device for reproducing writing at a distance. In 1872, Gray founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company, the parent firm of the present Western Electric Company.
Further Reading
Elisha Gray - Biography (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Chemistry)
Inventing the Telephone (AT&T)
The Telephone: Elisha Gray (PBS Online)
