Martin Cooper

Martin with the first portable phone (http://www.symbian-freak.com/images/news/08/04/martin_cooper01.jpg)

A cell phone is something that I use every day. Almost everyone today has used one sometime in their life. A lot of people use their cell phone for their work. In 2009 alone, over 90% of Americans owned a cell phone, over 1.5 trillion texts were traded, an average of 6.1 billion minutes were used per day, cell phones have literally saved people's lives. The first cell phone was invented in 1973 by Martin Cooper, my hero.

On December 28, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois a future hero was born. This hero is named Martin Cooper. Martin lived during the Great Depression and was born to parents Mary and Arthur, and has one brother. Today Martin is 82 years old and is married to Arlene Harris, has two children and 4 grandchildren. He is a co-founder of ArrayComm. inc.

Martin Cooper with phones

Martin Cooper went to Lawson Elementary School and Crane Technical High School, in Chicago, and got his Bachelors and Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute Of Technology and he served in the navy for four years prior to working with Motorolla. At Motorolla he worked on portable products and then worked on creating the cell phone. His competition was AT&T and the first call from a cell phone was made on April 13, 1973 to Dr. Joel Engel, Cooper's competition, he was 44 years old.

First cell phone & a modern one (http://images.usatoday.com/tech/_photos/2005/04/10/motorolaphones180.jpg)

Martin Cooper is my hero because he invented something that I, along with many other people, use daily. If I were to get lost I could always use my phone to call for help. A cell phone can literally save someone's life; if they are in a car accident and have their phone with them and they are able to use it, they can call for help. Also, a cell phone is more convenient rather than to go into someplace and have to use their phone. A lot of people rely on their cell phone every day. Without Martin Cooper, the progression in the development of cell phones would be further behind than they are today.

Anyone who has ever had a situation where they needed a cell phone, whether it was a matter of life or death, or if it was simply reminding someone at home to feed the dog, should have Martin Cooper as one of their heroes. If you have ever had a situation where you didn't have any way to get home, but used your phone to call someone, you should consider him a hero. Without his device, that person may have died, or that dog may have to go without food for a day or you wouldn't have gotten home. He has built one of the most used devices in the world. This is why Martin Cooper is my hero.