Origin of "Hello"

Arguably, the first thing that most people say when they pick up a phone is "Hello" all over the world, but not too many people know about its origin and why it is used.
Before ‘Hello' became popular, telephone operators used to start conversations with, "Are you there?" or "Are you ready to talk?" The man who made ‘Hello' famous was the same one who gave us the electric bulb and the ceiling fan - Thomas Alva Edison.
While working on improving Graham Bell's design of the telephone, he discovered that the word ‘Hello' could be heard 10 to 20 feet away. Now, as a word that could be heard clearly over a distance was quite a discovery it was popular!
Interestingly enough, Graham Bell, the person credited with inventing the telephone, is believed to have preferred starting conversations with "Ahoy."!