Hubbard was the indirect source of her husband's early commercial success after his creation of the telephone. The U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 made Bell's newly invented telephone a featured headline worldwide. Judges Emperor Dom Pedro II of the Empire of Brazil and the eminent British physicist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) recommended his device to the "Committee of Electrical Awards", which voted Bell the "Gold Medal for Electrical Equipment". Bell also won a second "Gold Medal for Visible Speech", for his additional display at the exposition, helping to propel him to international fame. Bell, who was then a full-time teacher, hadn't even planned on exhibiting at the fair due to his heavy teaching schedule and preparation for his student's examinations. He went there only at the stern insistence of his fiancée and future wife.