The fax machine was first invented in 1843 by Scottish inventor Alexander Bain, who patented his “Electric Printing Telegraph” on May 27, 1843.

Quick Scoop

  • The earliest fax machine dates to the 1840s, not the telephone era.
  • Alexander Bain is credited with creating the first fax-like device, using pendulums, electric currents, and chemically treated paper to transmit images line by line.
  • His British patent for this system was granted on May 27, 1843, and is widely recognized as the birth of fax technology.
  • Later inventors, like Giovanni Caselli in the 1860s, turned the concept into early commercial fax services, but Bain’s 1843 machine is the original starting point.

Mini timeline

  1. 1843 – Alexander Bain patents the first fax machine, called the Electric Printing Telegraph.
  1. 1860s – Early commercial fax services appear in Europe (for example, Caselli’s pantelegraph between Paris and Lyon).
  1. 1970s–1980s – Fax becomes a standard office tool with modern electronic machines.

In short, when people ask “when was the fax machine invented,” the historically accepted answer is 1843, thanks to Alexander Bain’s pioneering Electric Printing Telegraph.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.