EOTO1: The History of the Telephone

The history of the telephone dates back to the 1800s, where many inventors were trying to successfully create an invention that allows for wired communication. However it was inventor Alexander Graham Bell who created the first telephone in 1876. The telephone transmitted sound through electrical wires, with the first words spoken over the telephone being “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” This was revolutionary for the time, though it wasn’t able to have exchanges from other areas. This didn’t happen until 1878, when the first telephone line was created in order to call people in local areas. Within just three years, there were around 49,000 telephones being used across the United States. In 1880, the first telephone company was created by Bell, named the American Telegraph and Telephone Company (otherwise known as AT&T). This was the company that would dominate telephone communications for the next century. They made further advancements to the telephone, creating dial telephones in 1891 which allows callers to directly dial a phone number instead of having to go through an operator. 

The number of telephones continued to rapidly increase over the next few decades, reaching 10 million telephones by 1920. The technology involved in the telephones were also increasing, with the first transatlantic call being made from New York to London in 1927. However, the true groundbreaking moment for the telephone during this time was in 1947, when the first mobile phone was invented by Martin Cooper. While it wasn’t yet commercially available to people, it was still a huge breakthrough in wireless communication technology. It wasn’t until 1973 when mobile phones were made commercially available by the company Motorola. The phones only had a battery life of 20 minutes and weighed about two pounds, but this was still revolutionary in the way we communicate with others. With the quickly growing technological advancements over the next few years resulted in the first smartphone in 1992, which had touch screens, email, and fax capabilities. This is what laid the foundation for the smartphones we now use today.