Antonio Meucci

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Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci (April 13, 1808–October 18, 1889) was an Italian inventor, and the very first inventor of the Telephone, as confirmed by the US Congress which passed a resolution crediting the little-known Italian immigrant as the phone's rightful originator.

On June 16th 2002 US Congress recognized the impoverished Florentine immigrant as the inventor of the telephone rather than Alexander Graham Bell. Historians and Italian-Americans won their battle to persuade Washington to recognize Antonio Meucci ^[1] as a father of modern communications, 113 years after his death. The vote by the House of Representatives prompted joyous claims in Meucci's homeland that finally Bell had been outed as a perfidious Scot who found fortune and fame by stealing another man's work. Calling the Italian's career extraordinary and tragic, the resolution said his "teletrofono", demonstrated in New York in 1860, made him the inventor of the telephone in the place of Bell, who had access to Meucci's materials and who took out a patent 16 years later. "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged," the resolution stated. Bell's immortalization in books and films has rankled with generations of Italians who know Meucci's story. Born in 1808, he studied design and mechanical engineering at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, and as a stage technician at the city's Teatro della Pergola developed a primitive system to help colleagues communicate. In the 1830s he moved to Cuba and, while working on methods to treat illnesses with electric shocks, found that sounds could travel by electrical impulses through copper wire. Sensing potential, he moved to Staten Island, near New York City, in 1850 to develop the technology. When Meucci's wife, Ester, became paralyzed he rigged a system to link her bedroom with his neighboring workshop and in 1860 held a public demonstration which was reported in New York's Italian-language press. In between giving shelter to political exiles, Meucci struggled to find financial backing, failed to master English and was severely burned in an accident aboard a steamship. Forced to make new prototype telephones after Ester sold his machines for $6 to a secondhand shop, his models became more sophisticated. An inductor formed around an iron core in the shape of a cylinder was a technique so sophisticated that it was used decades later for long-distance connections. Meucci could not afford the $250 needed for a definitive patent for his "talking telegraph" so in 1871 filed a one-year renewable notice of an impending patent. Three years later he could not even afford the $10 to renew it. He sent a model and technical details to the Western Union telegraph company but failed to win a meeting with executives. When he asked for his materials to be returned, in 1874, he was told they had been lost. Two years later Bell, who shared a laboratory with Meucci, filed a patent for a telephone, became a celebrity and made a lucrative deal with Western Union. Meucci sued and was nearing victory - the supreme court agreed to hear the case and fraud charges were initiated against Bell - when the Florentine died in 1889. The legal action died with him. Yesterday the newspaper La Repubblica welcomed the vote to recognise the Tuscan inventor as a belated comeuppance for Bell, a "cunning Scotsman" and "usurper" whose per- fidy built a communications empire.

Contents 1 Other inventions 2 Garibaldi-Meucci Museum 3 Meucci in popular culture 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading

[edit] Other inventions

This list is also taken from Basilio Catania's historical reconstruction^[2]

• 1825 Chemical compound to be used as an improved propellant in fireworks
• 1834 In the Florence's Teatro della Pergola, he sets up a "pipe telephone" to communicate from the stage to the maneuver trellis-work, at about eighteen meters height.
• 1840 Improved filters and chemical processing of waters supplying the city of Havana, Cuba.
• 1844 First electroplating factory of the Americas, set up in Havana, Cuba. Before, objects to be electroplated were sent to Paris.
• 1846 Improved apparatus for electrotherapy, featuring a pulsed current breaker with rotating cross.
• 1847 Restructuring of the Tacón Theater in Havana, following a hurricane. Meucci conceived a new structure of the roof and ventilation system, to avoid the roof to be taken off in like situations.
• 1848 Astronomical observations by means of a marine telescope worth $280.
• 1849 Chemical process for the preservation of corpses, to cope with the high demand for bodies of immigrants to be sent to Europe, avoiding decomposition during the many weeks navigation.
• 1849 First discovery of electrical transmission of speech.
• 1850-1 First stearic candle factory of the Americas, set up in Clifton, NY.
• 1855 Realization of celestas, with crystal bars instead of steel, and pianos (one is on display at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, in Rosebank, NY)
• 1856 First lager beer factory of Staten Island, the Clifton Brewery, in Clifton, NY.
• 1858-60 Invention of paraffin candles. US Patent No. 22,739 on a candle mold for the same and US Patent No. 30,180 on a rotating blade device for finishing the same.
• 1860 First paraffin candle factory in the world, the New York Paraffine Candle Co., set up in Clifton, NY, early in 1860, then moved to Stapleton, NY. It produced over 1,000 candles per day.
• 1860 Experiments on the use of dry batteries in electrical traction and other industrial applications.
• 1860 Process to turn red corals into a pink color (more valued), as requested by Enrico Bendelari, a merchant of New York.
• 1862 US Patent No. 36,192 on a kerosene lamp that generates a very bright flame, without smoke, (therefore not needing a glass tube), thanks to electricity developed by two thin platinum plates embracing the flame.
• 1862-63 Process for treating and bleaching oil or kerosene to obtain siccative oils for paint (US Patents No. 36,419 and No. 38,714). "Antonio Meucci Patent Oil" was sold by Rider & Clark Co., 51 Broad Street, New York, and exported to Europe. See expert comment.
• 1864 Invention of new, more destructive ammunition for guns and canons, proposed to the US army and to General Giuseppe Garibaldi.
• 1864-65 Processes to obtain paper pulp from wood or other vegetable substances (US Patents No. 44,735, No. 47,068 and No. 53,165). Associated Press was interested in producing paper with this process, which was also the first to introduce the recovery of the leaching liquor. See expert comment.
• 1865 Process for making wicks out of vegetable fiber, US Patent No. 46,607.
• 1867 A paper factory, the "Perth Amboy Fiber Co.," was set up, in Perth Amboy, NY. The paper pulp was obtained from either marsh grass or wood. It was the first to recycle waste paper. See expert comment.
• 1871 US Patent No. 122,478 "Effervescent Drinks," fruit-vitamin rich drinks that Meucci found useful during his recovery from the wounds and burns caused by the explosion of the Westfield ferry. See expert comment.
• 1873 US Patent No. 142,071 "Sauce for Food." According to Roberto Merloni, general manager of the Italian STAR company, this Patent anticipates modern food technologies. See expert comment.
• 1873 Conception of a screw steamer suitable for navigation in canals.
• 1874 Process for refining crude oil (caveat)
• 1875 Filter for tea or coffee, much similar to that used in present day coffee machines.
• 1875 Household utensil (description not available) "combining usefulness to cheapness, that will find a ready sale."
• 1875 US Patent No. 168,273 "Lactometer," for chemically detecting adulterations of milk. It anticipates by fifteen years the well-known Babcock test. See expert comment.
• 1875 Upon request by Giuseppe Tagliabue (a Physical Instruments maker of Brooklyn, NY), Meucci devises and manufactures several aneroid barometers of various shapes.
• 1876 US Patent No. 183,062 "Hygrometer," which was a marked improvement over the popular hair-hygrometer of the time. He set up a small factory in Staten Island for fabrication of the same. See expert comment.
• 1878 Method for preventing noise on elevated railways, a problem much felt at the time in New York.
• 1878 Process for fabricating ornamental paraffin candles for Christmas trees.
• 1880 US patent application "Wire for Electrical Purposes"
• 1881 Process for making postage and revenue stamps.
• 1883 US Patent No. 279,492 "Plastic Paste," as hard and tenacious to be suitable for billiard balls. See expert comment.

[edit] Garibaldi-Meucci Museum

The Order of the Sons of Italy in America maintains a Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in Staten Island. The museum is located in a house that was built in 1840, purchased by Meucci in 1850, and rented to Giuseppe Garibaldi from 1850 to 1854. Exhibits include Meucci’s models and drawing and pictures relating to his life.^[3][4]

[edit] Meucci in popular culture

In the 1990 motion picture The Godfather Part III, the character Joey Zaza mentions Meucci as the inventor of the telephone.^{[citation needed]}

In the television series The Sopranos, the character Tony Soprano also mentions Meucci as the inventor of the telephone, stating "he was robbed" of being given proper credit.^{[citation needed]}

In May 16 1996 Umberto Silvestri, President of Telecom Italia, and Guido Clemente, Florence spokesman for the Arts, put a memorial tablet on Meucci's birthplace, Via dei Serragli 44, Florence, with the text: "Qui nacque il 13 aprile 1808 Antonio Meucci, Inventore del Telefono". At the same time a memorial tablet is placed in Gran Teatro in Havana where Meucci had his laboratory with the text: "Antonio Meucci expatriado italiano en la Habana entre los años 1835 y 1850 aquí en el teatro Tacón realizó aquellos experimentos de tranmisión acústica que lo llevaron a la invención del teléfono. La ciudad natal de Florencia y la ciudad hospitalaria de la Habana in su memoria"^[5]

In 2003 the Italian Communication Ministry and the Italian Postal and Telegraph Society produced a 0,52€ stamp portraying Antonio Meucci as the inventor of the telephone^[6]

A 2005 TV series produced by the Italian National Broadcasting Network, depicts Mr. Edward B. Grant as cheating Meucci and Alexander Graham Bell as obtaining success by more or less legal means^[7][8]).

[edit] See also

• Telephone
• Timeline of the telephone
• Alexander Graham Bell
• Emile Berliner
• Charles Bourseul
• Thomas Edison
• Elisha Gray
• Innocenzo Manzetti
• Philipp Reis

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

Documents of the trial

• Antonio Meucci's Deposition (New York, December 7, 1885 - January 1886), New York Public Library - Annex, New York. NY (USA) National Archives & Records Administration, New York, NY, FILE : Records of the U.S. Circuit Court, Southern District of New York, The American Bell Telephone Co. et al. v. The Globe Telephone Co. et al.
• Affidavit of Michael Lemmi (Translation of Meucci's Memorandum book) sworn Septemher 28, 1885. National Archives & Records Administration. Washington. DC. - RG48. Interior Dept. file 4513- 1885. Enclosure 2)
• List of the ruling in the Antonio Meucci case Globe Telephone Company 1884 - Famous ATT Patent Fight

Scientific and Historic Research

• Catania Basilio articles and books about Antonio Meucci's priority (in Italian and English)
• Catania Basilio, 2002, "The U.S. Government Versus Alexander Graham Bell: An Important Acknowledgment", Bulletin of Science Technology Society ; 22: 426-442
• Catania Basilio 2002 "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.1 "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.2(in Italian), summary of Meucci's life and work and his trial against Alexander Graham Bell.
• Italian Society of Electrotechnics (Federazione Italiana di Elettrotecnica) Sala Antonio Meucci
• Catania Basilio 2003 The United States Government vs. Alexander Graham Bell. An important acknowledgment for Antonio Meucci
• Catania Basilio 2003 Antonio Meucci inventore del telefono, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 109-117. (short biography of Meucci and the trial, in Italian)
• Catania Basilio 2003 L'ora della verità, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 118-128]. (history of the Resolution 269, in Italian)
• Scientific American Supplement No. 520, December 19, 1885
• Rossi Adolfo, Un Italiano in America. La Cisalpina , Milano 1881.
• Schiavo, Giovanni E., Antonio Meucci : inventor of the telephone, New York : The Vigo press, 1958, no ISBN, IT\ICCU\SBL\0234690 (Italian National Library System).
• Sterling Christopher H., 2004, CBQ REVIEW ESSAY: HISTORY OF THE TELEPHONE (PART ONE): Invention, Innovation, and Impact. Communication Booknotes Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 4, Pages 222-241 (doi: 10.1207/s15326896cbq3504_1)
• Vassilatos Gerry Lost Science (ISBN 0-945685-25-4, possible excerpt, review)
• An excellent history of Meucci with photos and copies of his diagrams and instruments
• Sergio Bovi Campeggi: biografia dell'amico e patriota Paolo Bovi Campeggi

US Congress Resolution 269, recognizing Antonio ^[9]

• Bill Number H.RES.269 for the 107th Congress

• Summary and status of Resolution 269
• HRes 269, text of 17 Oct 2001
• HRes 269, text of 11 Jun 2002

• Full text of resolution on Basilio Catania's personal website

Museums and celebrations

• Italian Society of Electrotechnics (Federazione Italiana di Elettrotecnica) Sala Antonio Meucci
• Antonio Meucci Centre Montreal, Qc, Canada
• The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
• The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum (Staten Island site)
• Ministero delle Comunicazioni 2003 MEUCCI DAY Italy, Rome may 28 2003 Congress Celebrating Antonio Meucci, inventor of the telephone Intervening Maurizio Gasparri (Ministro delle Comunicazioni); Emil Skodon (Ministro Consigliere degli USA Incaricato d'affari); Basilio Catania (professor); Piero Angela (journalist); Nicholas Negroponte (Direttore di Medialab del Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Newspapers comments

• John Bedini's Antonio Meucci-page Hearing Through Wires.
• Bellis Mary "The History of the Telephone - Antonio Meucci"
• Dossena Tiziano Thomas, Meucci, Forgotten Italian Genius, Bridge Apulia USA 1999
• Fenster Julie M., 2006, Inventing the Telephone—And Triggering All-Out Patent War, AmericanHeritage.com
• Carroll Rory, "Bell did not invent telephone, US rules" The Guardian Monday June 17, 2002
• Capelvenere Franco, E il generale Garibaldi rispose ad Antonio Meucci: "Non obbedisco" ITALIA OGGI - 28 Maggio 2003