174,465

us patent issued for "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound" on march 7, 1876.

and we all know the story of a. g. bell and his invention, but did you know that one elisha gray, a fellow dabbler in acoustic telegraphy, filed a caveat with the patent office that same morning?

not sure what it means exactly to file a caveat, but one result of that action is that we all learn that alexander graham bell invented the telephone and we've never heard of elisha gray (w/apologies to mr gray's descendants)

and now for a patent of a device that just never made it big time . . .