The telephone or phone is a telecommunications device designed to transmit speech by means of electric signals. It was invented around 1860 by Antonio Meucci who called it teletrophone. The first recorded public demonstration of Meucci's invention took place in 1860, and had a description of it published in New York's Italian language newspaper. In 1861 Philipp Reis presented a machine for electronic voice transmission. Elisha Gray independently invented it and demonstrated it in 1874, but two hours before he submitted his patent announcement, Alexander Graham Bell submitted a patent (although his proposed design did not work). As a result, Alexander Graham Bell is usually credited with the invention.
