1. The Telephone Timeline
By Hunter Stoebe
My Diigo List!

2. Alexander Graham Bell Has an Idea
During the later 1800’s, Alexander Graham Bell knew there had to be a better way to communicate than sending letters and waiting months for replies. So… He spent years devising this new ‘device’, which would soon change the way the world
communicated, forever.

3. Telephone Transmission extends across and Between major cities
The telephone is invented and loading coils are placed up high to strengthen signals. Micheal Pupin of Columbia University is awarded a patent for this in 1904.

4. 1915
In 1915, the First Transcontinental phone call was made linked from New York city to San Francisco.

5. 1920
In 1920, At&t designs the Frequency Multiplexing concept, which is how we communicate with more than one person at a time on a phone call. (Ex: conference calls)

6. 1949
In 1949, the first ringer and handset came out to the public. The classic black rotary phone, featuring an adjustable volume control for the bell and later a variety of colors, becomes a cultural icon.

7. 1951
The first long distance phone call was made. Now, people could make long distance phone calls without having to first go through an operator.

8. 1963
The first touch-tone telephone was introduced. 10 ‘buttons’ replaced the spinning wheel.

9. 1968
The first 911 phone call was made. In Haleyville, Alabama, They started using this new ‘911’ system because it was easy to remember, and the numbers did not interfere with any U.S or Canadian area codes.

10. 1973
The first portable cell phone call was made by Martin Cooper of Motorola to his research rival at Bell Labs, Joel Engel. Cooper’s was the first one invented for truly portable use. He and his team are awarded a patent in 1975.

11. 2000
100 million cell phone subscribers. The number of cellular telephone subscribers in the United States grew to 100 million, from 25,000 in They are still becoming smaller, and more portable.