Bel

Bel
   "Watson, come here, I want you" was the first sentence ever spoken over a telephone. On March 10, 1876, in a house in Boston, Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) uttered those historic words. The message carried, and the telephone was born.
   For those wondering why Bell said something so ordinary on such an auspicious occasion, the reason was that Bell had spilled some acid on himself and needed help from his laboratory assistant, Thomas Watson.
   Bell was born in Scotland, but became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1871. His interest was in teaching the deaf (both his mother and his wife were deaf). Bell became a professor of vocal physiology at Boston University, where he continued his work on telephonic communication. He founded Science, the official publication of the Association for the Advancement of Science, was president of the National Geographic Society, and a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. The decibel, one-tenth of a bel (bel is a clipped version of the inventor's name), is the least audible sound to the human ear. For the technically minded, decibel is a unit used to compare two power levels on a logarithmic scale. People hear from 0 to 130 decibels. Above that figure, sound becomes painful to the ear. Most conversations take place at about 60 decibels.
   As with some other momentous inventions, the question arose: Who was the first to invent the telephone? There were a number of claimants, but after a decade of litigation, Bell emerged the victor and helped organize the giant American Telephone and Telegraph Company, popularly known as AT&T.

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

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  • bel — bel …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Belœil — Belœil …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bel — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Bel (apócope de Belu) es el nombre dado a un dios babilónico identificado con diversas deidades en varias etapas históricas. Su nombre deriva de un término acadio que significa “Señor”, “amo” o “Dueño”. Contenido 1… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Bel — Ridge, MO U.S. village in Missouri Population (2000): 3082 Housing Units (2000): 1288 Land area (2000): 0.811259 sq. miles (2.101151 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.811259 sq. miles (2.101151… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Bel, MO — Bel Ridge, MO U.S. village in Missouri Population (2000): 3082 Housing Units (2000): 1288 Land area (2000): 0.811259 sq. miles (2.101151 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.811259 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • bel — BEL, beli, s.m. Unitate de măsură pentru intensitatea sunetelor. – Din fr. bel. Trimis de paula, 02.06.2002. Sursa: DEX 98  bel s. m., pl. beli; simb. B Trimis de siveco, 10.08.2004. Sursa: Dicţionar ortografic  BEL beli m. Unitate de măsură a… …   Dicționar Român

  • Bel — can mean:* Bel, a unit of ratio equal to ten decibels * Bel (god), a Semitic deity (cf Baal) * Bel (Belenos); a Celtic deity * Bael; a tree (or its fruit) native to India * Behind Enemy Lines, an American crust punk band * Bel, fictional lord of… …   Wikipedia

  • BEL — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. {{{image}}}   Sigles d une seule lettre   Sigles de deux lettres > Sigles de trois lettres …   Wikipédia en Français

  • bel — Bel, Cerchez Beau, Les François dient et escrivent bel, si le mot suyvant commence par une voyelle, comme bel homme, bel arbre, bel oiseau …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • BEL — can be an abbreviation for: * BEL or bell character in the C0 control code set * Belarusian language, in the ISO 639 2 and SIL country code lists *, in the ISO 3166 1 3 letter country code list * Bharat Electronics Limited * Bellingham (Amtrak… …   Wikipedia

  • Bél — (spr. bēl), 1) (Belius) Matthias, ungar. Geschichtschreiber, geb. 24. März 1684 in Ocsowa bei Neusohl, gest. 29. Aug. 1749 in Preßburg, studierte in Halle Medizin, dann Theologie, ward Lehrer am Waisenhaus und übersetzte asketische Schriften… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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