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Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

Everyone knows Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

You know who doesn't get a lot of credit?

His dog.

And he should.

Bell's adorable terrier is part of the crazy story of how the telephone came to be.

Today I want to share the stories of two unlikely characters in the development of the telephone.

The first is the dog.

Go back to 1863.

Alexander Grand Bell was 20 years old.

His father and grandfather were prominent speech and language experts in England.

One day, Bell's father encouraged him to make a machine that could mimic the sounds of speech.

Bell's solution? He turned to his dog.

Bell brought out some treats.

As the terrier growled, Bell moved the dog's jaw.

By doing that, he was able to make it sound like the dog was talking. He manipulated

the growls into real sentences. How are you, Grandma Ma? Was one of them? The incident

cemented Bell's determination to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, bringing

sound to life. It also awakened the crucial curiosity and creative instincts he would need to bring the phone

...