US acoustician, MIT professor & inventor Leo Beranek using a Hush-A-Phone, a device for silencing phone calls. AT&T, who held a #monopoly over US #telephone service at the time sued against the device & lost, setting a legal precedent that eventually led to their own breakup.

#telephony #silence #acoustics #LeoBeranek #SoundBeyondMusic #MuseumOfPortableSound