Carbon microphone
The first microphone that enabled proper voice telephony was the (loose-contact) carbon microphone (then called transmitter). This was independently developed around 1878 by David Edward Hughes in England and Emile Berliner and Thomas Edison in the US. Although Edison was awarded the first patent in mid-1877, Hughes had demonstrated his working device in front of many witnesses some years earlier, and most historians credit him with its invention.
Raymond A. Litke
Raymond A. Litke (1920-1986) was an American electronic engineer, the inventor of a practical wireless microphone, and the first to patent the wireless microphone. He was born and raised on a farm near Alma, Kansas, but spent most of his adult life in San Jose, California.