The first person to say hello on the telephone is a topic that has been debated, but there are two main contenders: Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.
Thomas Edison is often credited with the use of hello as a telephone greeting. According to some sources, Edison expressed his surprise with a misheard “Hullo” when using the telephone. This misinterpretation of the word became popularized as hello and eventually became a common telephone greeting.
On the other hand, Alexander Graham Bell initially used “Ahoy” as a telephone greeting. This term, commonly used on ships, was Bell’s preferred way of answering the telephone. However, as time went on, hello became more widely adopted and eventually replaced ahoy as the standard telephone greeting.
It is worth noting that the use of hello as a telephone greeting was not an instant or universal phenomenon. In the early days of telephone communication, people would often simply state their own name or ask, “Who is this?” when answering a call. The development of a standard greeting took time and varied from person to person and region to region.
Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer as to who was the absolute first person to say hello on the telephone. Both Edison and Bell played significant roles in the development of the telephone, and their contributions to the technology cannot be underestimated. The use of hello as a greeting likely evolved gradually over time through the influence of various individuals and cultural factors.
While Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell are both associated with the early days of telephone communication, the exact origins of saying hello on the telephone remain somewhat unclear. It is safe to say that both individuals played a part in shaping the telephone greeting as we know it today.