Is The Origin Of “Hello” Related To Graham Bell’s Girlfriend? Here’s The Truth.

“Alexander Graham Bell” is famously known as the inventor of the “telephone”, the primary device which paved the way for modern advanced communication systems. It is customary worldwide to use the term” hello” when answering a phone call. But what is the origin of the word “hello”? A viral message says, “”When we pick up the phone, we say ‘#Hello’ But what is ‘Hello’?

It is not a greeting but rather the name of a person.

It is ‘#Margaret Hello,’ the fiancée of the #telephone inventor ‘#Graham #Bell.’

It was the first word he said in the initial test of his #invention,

and it has been used since then as the opening of any #phone calls worldwide.”

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

However, as we investigated, we came to know that the viral message was false. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search. As a result, we came to know that the woman with Alexander Graham Bell in the picture was his wife Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, not Margaret Hello.

Moving forward conducting a keyword search we found an article published on the website “npr”. According to this article, inventor Thomas Edison was the one who put “Hello” into common usage. He urged the people who used his phone to say “hello” when answering. His rival, Alexander Graham Bell, thought the better word was “ahoy”.

Please read here. Archived Link

The New York Times published an article on 5 March 1992 with the headline “Great ‘Hello’ Mystery Is Solved”. According to the article “ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL invented the telephone. But Thomas Alva Edison coined the greeting…”

Please read here.

According to the History website, “Alexander Graham Bell, best known for his invention of the telephone, revolutionized communication as we know it. His interest in sound technology was deep-rooted and personal, as both his wife and mother were deaf. While there’s some controversy over whether Bell was the true pioneer of the telephone, he secured exclusive rights to the technology and launched the Bell Telephone Company in 1877. Ultimately, the talented scientist held more than 18 patents for his inventions and work in communications.”

The article also says, “Bell met Mabel Hubbard while teaching at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes.  The couple married on July 11, 1877. They went on to have four children, including two sons who died as infants.

Further, we searched for the first word of Graham Bell when he made a telephone call for the first time. As a result, we found an article published on the website “wired” on 18 March 2011. The first words spoken over the phone were Bell telling his assistant, electrician Thomas Watson: “Mr Watson – Come here – I want to see you.” According to the article, Bell’s journal, which is now at the Library of Congress, contains the following entry for March 10, 1876

“I then shouted into M [the mouthpiece] the following sentence: “Mr. Watson, come here — I want to see you.” To my delight he came and declared that he had heard and understood what I said.

I asked him to repeat the words. He answered, “You said ‘Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you.'” We then changed places and I listened at S [the speaker] while Mr. Watson read a few passages from a book into the mouthpiece M. It was certainly the case that articulate sounds proceeded from S. The effect was loud but indistinct and muffled.”

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the viral post is false. The first word of Alexander Graham Bell on the telephone was not “Hello”, but “Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you”. The greeting ‘Hello’ was coined by Thomas Alva Edison. Moreover, the woman in the picture is not Margaret Hello. She is Mabel Hubbard, wife of Alexander Graham Bell.