Alexander Bain patented the principle in 1843 – 33 years before Bell's telephone. It wasn't ready for everyday use.
Illustration: European Patent Office · Public domain · Original
1843Bain's patent – Bell's phone: 1876
The story behind it
The principle of the fax machine was patented in 1843 – 33 years before Bell's telephone.
Scottish clockmaker Alexander Bain made two pendulums swing in time with a clock: an original was scanned line by line and reproduced elsewhere on chemically treated paper. It wasn't yet fit for everyday use.
Fits with this
Nº 025 · History
Oxford is older than the Aztec Empire.
Teaching took place in Oxford around 1096; the Aztec Empire only arose in 1428.
Nº 018 · History · 40 sec
Cleopatra lived closer to the Moon landing than to the building of the pyramid
To us it's all "ancient Egypt". To Cleopatra, the Great Pyramid was already ancient.
Nº 040 · Technology · 50 sec
The first computer bug was a real moth
Taped into the logbook. Only the word "bug" was already old by then.
