Ring of Truth?

Newsweek, November, 2002 by Gersh Kuntzman

Pop quiz: Who invented the telephone? No, it's not a trick question. As every schoolkid (or, at least, every schoolkid who copies stuff out of the encyclopedia) knows, the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

So why does the United States Congress think otherwise?

Over the summer, while the rest of us were debating Iraq, Homeland Security and James Traficant's hair, Congress passed a resolution saying that thanks to "fraud and misrepresentation" on his part, Bell was "credited with inventing the telephone."

So who, according to the United States Congress, did invent the telephone? Why, Antonio Meucci, of course.

According to the resolution--which passed by overwhelming voice vote on June 12, 2002--Meucci "demonstrated his invention in...

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