"I am told that tonight my voice will reach out to the four corners of the world. It is an unusual opportunity for me to express my deep appreciation and thanks to you all for the countless eminences of your goodwill. I thank you from the bottom of my
heart. I would be embarrassed at the honours heaped upon me on this unforgettable night, would it not for the fact that in honouring me you are also honouring a vast army of thinkers and workers of the past, and those who are carrying on, without whom my work would have gone for nothing.
If I have spurred men to greater effort, and if our work has widened the horizon of man's understanding even a little, and given a measure of happiness in this world, I contend that it has all been worthwhile." (transcribed from the original broadcast in 1929)
Thomas Edison was amongst the many distinguished visitors to Bell Telephone Labs during the development of sound-on-disc talking pictures. Stanley Watkins, who was in charge of operations at the time says in his memoirs:
"Two things I remember about Edison; he said that our sound was very good, and that he was extremely deaf"