Alexander Graham Bell ( 1847 - 1922 ). Other people before Bell had tried to transmit the human voice across distances. Others since have helped improve and perfect Bell's inventions. But Alexander Graham Bell will always be remembered as the father of the electric telephone.

Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847 and was educated at Edinburgh University. With his parents, he moved to Canada in 1870. His father and grandfather had devoted their lives to the study of human speech and to teaching the deaf to speak, and he followed their profession. His main interest throughout his life was in helping the deaf.

In 1874 - 75 he began work on his great invention, inspired by experiments with devices to help the deaf. On March 10, 1876, in Boston, the first sentence was successfully transmitted by telephone.

For many years Bell spent his summers at his estate on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. He died there on August 2, 1922. During the funeral service every telephone of the Bell system was kept silent.

This stock certificate of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company features a portrait of Alexander Graham Bell and is attractively shrink- wrapped on foam-core board with some historical data, ready to hang.