US Stamps
Born March 3: Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born March 3, 1847. The United States 10¢ stamp honoring him was issued in 1940.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847, Alexander Graham Bell moved to Canada in 1870, and to Boston the following year, securing a teaching position there at a school for the deaf.
An intelligent and inquisitive young man, his interest in aiding those who could not hear led him to research in areas such as telegraphy, and efforts to develop an instrument that would transmit human speech.
His work with Thomas Watson resulted in the transmission of a voice message on March 10, 1876, as Watson heard Bell declare, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!" over a wire from another room.
Graham demonstrated his invention just a few months later at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, and within two years a telephone was installed in the White House for president Rutherford B. Hayes.
Bell would continue his research in other areas, including improvements on the phonograph and advances in manned aircraft flight.
He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1882, though he spent much of his later life with his family in Nova Scotia, at a large house and laboratory he built there.
Alexander Graham Bell was celebrated on a 10¢ stamp in the 1940 Famous Americans series (Scott 893). His name later appeared on a 13¢ commemorative issued in 1976 to mark the centenary of his first call to Mr. Watson, and his telephone patent application (1683).
More from Linns.com:
Maya Angelou stamp design, ceremony details revealed
Yellow Hat stamp find in U.S. stamp mixture: postmarked pair on clipped envelope piece
USPS announces joint issue with Japan in April
Rate change approved by Postal Rate Commission
Where's the moose? Regency-Superior kicks off 2015 with the sale of a missing-moose error
Keep up with all of Linns.com's news and insights by signing up for our free eNewsletters, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Twitter.
MORE RELATED ARTICLES
Headlines
-
US Stamps
Jun 6, 2023, 3 PMA closer look at the new Endangered Species collector’s kit
-
US Stamps
Jun 6, 2023, 3 PMRoy Lichtenstein, other recent U.S. stamps receive Scott numbers
-
World Stamps
Jun 6, 2023, 12 PMClash of Empires: the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War to open at Royal Philatelic Society London July 1
-
World Stamps
Jun 5, 2023, 4 PMGustaf Douglas, 1938-2023