and work in his store. Berliner left for the U.S. in 1870, in order to avoid obligatory service in the Prussian military.
A hardworking, brilliant young man, Berliner struggled against an economic climate of recession, as well as the language and cultural barriers faced by new immigrants. He spent a great deal of time at the Cooper Institute Library in Washington, studying the science related to sound and electricity. Determined to improve on existing technology, he set up a rudimentary laboratory in his apartment and began testing his ideas.
Pioneer in Audio Technology
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell presented his telephone at an exhibition at the centennial celebration in Philadelphia. Berliner recognized that he could improve the quality of the telephone's sound transmission. By experimenting with a telephone he had assembled in his apartment, Berliner invented a telephone transmitter in 1877--an innovation that would lead to the first microphone and clear, long-distance telephone communication. He patented the device on June 4, 1877. Being in need of cash, Berliner sold the rights to his invention to the Bell Telephone Company of Boston three months later for $75,000 (some sources report $50,000). He also took a salaried position at Bell as an engineer.
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