Discover how one invention led to another when Thomas Edison and his Menlo Park laboratory team refined Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and, along the way, invented the phonograph, in this video adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Edison. Bell unveiled the telephone in the spring of 1876, prompting Edison and his team to design a device that improved on it. Then, calling on his experience as a telegrapher, Edison experimented on a device capable of recording the human voice: a phonograph. The invention was truly groundbreaking. Until then, no one had ever played back recorded sound. This resource is part of the American Experience collection. Note: The word "damn" is stated in the video.Click on the links below to download a customizable Student Handout and a tanscript for this resource.