Birth of the telephone inventor

Johann Philipp Reis Quelle: zeitgenössische Lithografie Birth of the telephone inventor
Jan 7 1834
Johann Philipp Reis Source: contemporary lithograph

The researcher and inventor Johann Philipp Reis is born

Born in Gelnhausen (Hesse) on 7 January 1834, Johann Philipp Reis developed an early interest in the natural sciences. Aged 19, he began work to develop a technology that could transmit speech using electricity and he presented a device called a “telephone” at the beginning of the 1860s. Improved models of his invention were soon marketed worldwide, but they remained unsuitable for everyday use. In 1876, shortly after Reis’ death at the age of 40, patents were registered in the USA and his invention went into series production.

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2000 Jahre
12 Epochen
1 Stunde