Who invented the telephone?
(a) Alexander Graham Bell
(b) Some Italian bloke you've never heard of

Yup, it's (b). The US Congress yesterday recognised that inventor of the telephone was Antonio Meucci. He set up the first working telephone in his house, to communicate with his partially-paralysed wife. However, the impoverished Italian immigrant couldn't afford the $250 for a patent, and couldn't even afford $10 to renew his notice of an impending patent. Alexander Graham Bell, who shared a laboratory with Meucci, filed the patent in 1876 and received huge acclaim and financial reward for the invention. Meucci sued and was nearing victory when he died in 1889. The legal action died with him.

This page has the full story. I wonder if the Bell telecommunications company will change its name to Meucci? It has a certain, er, ring to it.