Bell did not set out to invent the telephone. The idea came to him when he played the piano. He noticed that a chord played on one piano would sound on a second piano in a second room. The second piano had picked up the vibrations caused by the chord.

Bell invented the telephone in 1876. It made him a rich man. In 1885, he visited Baddeck for the first time. Soon after he built his summer home, Beinn Bhreagh, which means “beautiful mountain” in Gaelic. Now that he did not have to work for a living, he could spend time on experiments that interested him. Many experiments were done at or near Beinn Bhreagh.

The Tetrahedron

Next, Bell wanted to build a flying machine. This led him to experiments with kites. At first, people in Baddeck were surprised to see so many kites flying over Beinn Bhreagh, but soon they helped him. Young women sewed kites for more experiments. Young men handled pulleys and took pictures. Over the years, many residents of the area worked for the Bells.

Bell was trying to build a kite that would be large enough to carry a man. But every large kite he tried was too heavy to fly. This lead him to invent the triangular box kite. The triangle shape handled better in the wind and was lighter. Then, he decided to join several small triangular kites together. Soon he had a structure that was made of four triangles—the tetrahedron. It was strong and stable. Bell had invented the tetrahedron while trying to build a flying machine. Today we can find the tetrahedron in many of the large bridges we see.

Bell finally built his flying machine. In 1907, he and four other men formed the Aerial Experiment Association. Two years later this group made history on the frozen Baddeck Bay.