Bell Memorial invention of the telephone in Brantford and to name Bell as its inventor. What was highly unusual in this instance was the building of an important monument to a living person, an event usually conducted only for imperial leaders. The duality of the monument with its dedication to both the inventor and to his invention, with its emphasis on the latter, likely persuaded Alexander Graham Bell, normally modest, to accept the invitation to its public unveiling. The association was organized with the support of George, Prince of Wales (later King George V), Viceroy of India and former Governor-General of Canada
Alexander Graham Bell by the villagers as "their own". The Bells were still in residence at "Beinn Bhreagh" when the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917. Mabel and Bell mobilized the community to help victims in Halifax. Although Alexander Graham Bell is most often associated with the invention of the telephone, his interests were extremely varied. According to one of his biographers, Charlotte Gray, Bell's work ranged "unfettered across the scientific landscape" and he often went to bed voraciously reading the "Encyclopædia Britannica", scouring it for new areas of interest. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by