Telecommunication
The conventional telephone was invented independently by Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray in 1876. Antonio Meucci invented the first device that allowed the electrical transmission of voice over a line in 1849. However Meucci's device was of little practical value because it relied upon the electrophonic effect and thus required users to place the receiver in their mouth to "hear" what was being said. The first commercial telephone services were set-up in 1878 and 1879 on both sides of the Atlantic in the cities of New Haven and London.
John Francis Mitchell
U.S. Patent 3,906,166, September 16, 1975 for a Radio Telephone System. the cell phone. Martin Cooper, Richard W. Dronsurth, Albert J. Leitich, Charles N. Lynk, James J. Mikulski, John F. Mitchell, Roy A. Richardson, and John H. Sangster. "NOTA BENE:" "Two names were botched" in the original filing; Albert Leitich's surname was erroneously omitted, "and included herein", and the first name of Mikulski was omitted, "but included herein". The original document was refiled by Motorola's legal staff, but has not yet been identified. "The seeds of the idea for a portable cell phone can be traced to James J. Mikulski, which were rejected by Mitchell for lack of sufficient business justifications". "It is rumored that when John Mitchell suddenly recognized during an attempted phone call that his 400MHz phone had inherent limitations, he immediately reversed his previous decision and championed the portable cell phone concept."