Telecommunications
First Telegraph Service Launched
May 24, 1844
Samuel Morse sends the first telegraphic message over a line from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. The message, “What hath God wrought!” was transmitted to his partner, Alfred Vail, who retransmitted the same message back to Morse. This formally opened America’s first telegraph line, launching America’s first form of instant communication in history. The biblical text was selected by Annie Ellsworth, the teenage daughter of the U.S. Commissioner of Patents.
The Old World Gets Connected
May 23, 1903
Paris, France and Rome, Italy are connected by telephone for first time. Feel free to congratulate me for finding this picture at any time.
The First Cell Phone Call
April 3, 1973
Martin Cooper, considered the “father of the cellular phone”, makes the first cell phone call on a New York City street.
First Long Distance Phone Call
The first truly long distance telephone call was made by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Mr. Watson from Boston to New York City. The call lasted 90 minutes before the line failed. However this call was done as an experiment using copper wire instead of galvanized iron. Spanning a distance of 235 miles for the experimental call, its success proved the feasibility of using copper wiring and opened the possibility of long distance telephone service which eventually spread around the country and the world.
Mr. Bell Calls Mr. Watson
March 10, 1876
Alexander Graham Bell makes the fateful call to his assistant, Mr. Watson, which is considered the first phone call in history: “Mr. Watson come here I want you.”
First Transatlantic Telephone Call
Exactly 50 years to the day that Alexander Graham Bell received a patent that made the telephone possible, the first transatlantic telephone call was made from London to New York. Using radio communication technology because phone voltages were too low to transmit through underwater transatlantic cables, commercial service would start less than a year later on January 7, 1927 at the cost of $75 for the first three minutes.
Bell Receives Patent for Telephone
March 7, 1876
Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent (US No. 174,465) for an “Improvement in Telegraphy,” which will later come to be known as the variable resistance telephone.
AT&T Incorporated
February 28, 1885
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. Eventually the companies would “merge” and thus AT&T was born.
First Phone and TV Satellite Relays
February 24, 1962
The first satellite telephone and television relays are established through the communications satellite Echo 1. The satellite was basically a big metallic balloon that simply bounced microwaves off its surface. Simple, but effective.
First Mobile Phone Virus
February 23, 2005
The discovery of the first mobile phone virus, Cabir, is accounced. Specifically, Cabir is a worm which infects phones running the Symbian OS. Whenever an infected phone is activated, the message “Caribe” is displayed. Infected phones also attempts to spread the virus through Bluetooth signals.