Aaaaaaargh!

Valentine’s Day 1876 was not a happy one for Elisha Gray. On that day, he filed a ‘caveat’ (an announcement of an intention to patent an invention within three months) for a device that would later be known as the telephone. Incredibly, Gray later learned that Alexander Graham Bell had submitted a patent application for a similar device only hours beforehand. Bell was eventually awarded the relevant patent after a protracted legal dispute. With hindsight, perhaps Gray should have booked an alarm call.