40. Alexander Graham Bell.

 The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, was born in Scotland, where he studied voice production and hearing. He later moved to America, where he combined this work with an investigation into the transmission of sound by electricity. Bell managed to transmit his voice electrically in 1875, patenting his idea the next year. He formed the Bell Telephone Company in 1877, as part of a legal fight to protect his patent. He used some of the profits from his invention of the telephone to finance special schools for the deaf. Bell carried on inventing for the rest of his life, designing hydrofoils to make ships faster and kites capable of lifting people.