While many people can name the Scottish-born American scientist Alexander Graham Bell as the person who invented the telephone, they'll be surprised to learn that Bell — whose family immigrated to Canada in 1870 — came up with the idea for the communication device in Brantford, Ontario. Observing the currents of a river, he realized that you could transmit sound by controlling the intensity of electrical currents.

Bell filed a patent for the telephone in the US but returned to Canada to receive the first one-way long-distance call. It was transmitted by telegraph wire from Brantford to Paris, Ontario.