Alexander Graham Bell  was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and was a renowned
scientist, inventor, and engineer who is credited with inventing the first practical
telephone. In 1888, Alexander Graham Bell became one of the founding members
of the National Geographic Society.

Bell with his prototype model of the telephone

This is one of two known copies of the first telephone directory, consisting of a single
page, issued by the New Haven District Telephone Company in Connecticut. It covered   
50 subscribers.

One of the first people to build a telephone exchange was Hungarian Tivadar Puskas (above) in 1877 while he was working for Thomas Edison. George W. Coy designed and built the first commercial telephone exchange which opened in New Haven, Connecticut. He’s been called the first full-time telephone operator. The switchboard was built from "carriage bolts, handles from teapot lids and bustle wire" and could handle two simultaneous conversations .

    
              The first telephone switchboard built by George W. Coy