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In 1835, Samuel Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire.
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The telegraph is asystem of communication employing electrical apparatus to transmit and receive signals in accordance with a code of electrical pulses.
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The news of the nomination of Henry Clay as the Whig Party's candidate was wired to the nation's capital; a distance of 40 miles.
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Western Union was founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company
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Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph line across North America in 1861
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The first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was completed, thus allowing transatlantic telegraph communications for the first time
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Speaking through the instrument to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in the next room, Bell utters these famous first words, "Mr. Watson -- come here -- I want to see you."
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Leroy Firman received the first patent for a telephone switchboard.
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Almon B. Strowger, a Kansas City undertaker, invented a switch that could connect one line to any of 100 lines by using relays and sliders.
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Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.
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Spaced every three to six thousand feet, cable circuits were extended three to four times their previous length. Essentially a small electro-magnet, a loading coil or inductance coil strengthens the transmission line by decreasing attenuation, the normal loss of signal strength over distance.
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In 1915, multiplex telegraphy came into use, permitting the transmission of eight or more messages simultaneously.
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AT&T at last introduced large scale automatic switching equipment to their telephone system.
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Commercial long distance radio-telephone service was introduced between the United States and Great Britain.
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Although the telephone was available to the president in the White House the oval office did not have one. A new two-position switchboard, especially built to meet the President's needs, was installed.
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Alec Reeves of Britain invented modern digital transmission when he developed Pulse Code Modulation.
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The longest open wire communication line in the world began operating between Edmonton, Alberta and Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Transistors amplify when built into a proper circuit.
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The first transcontinental microwave system began operating. By 1958 microwave carrier made up 13,000,000 miles of telephone circuits or one quarter of the nations long distance lines.
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Wichita Falls, Texas was the first American city in the Bell System to institute true number calling, that is, seven numerical digits without letters or names.
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Telstar 1 allows a call to be made to Lyndon B. Johnson. This marks the first long distance call via satellite.
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The first modern touch-tone phone was introduced, the Western Electric 1500. It had only ten buttons.
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The first 911 call is made made in Haleyville, Alabama.
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Martin Cooper of Motorola placed the first "true" mobile call to his research rival at Bell Labs, Joel Engel.
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The military and commercial inteties began using fiber optics to greatly enhance their already growing communications methods.
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Public tests of a new cellular phone system begin in Chicago, with more than 2,000 trial customers and mobile phone sets. The system, constructed by AT&T and Bell Labs, includes a group of small, low-powered transmission towers, each covering an area a few miles in radius.
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The FCC declared in 1987 that cellular licensees could employ alternative cellular technologies in the 800 MHz band.
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VoIP services convert your voice into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. If you are calling a regular phone number, the signal is converted to a regular telephone signal before it reaches the destination. VoIP can allow you to make a call directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone connected to a special adapter.
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The number of cellular telephone subscribers in the United States grows to 100 million, from 25,000 in 1984. An increasingly mobile society uses them not only for calling but also to access the Internet, organize schedules, take photographs, and record moving images.
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Apple's description of their new 3G phones.
The Apple iPhone 3G offers critical new features including support for high-speed 3G networks, third-party applications, and expanded e-mail. Its call quality is improved and it continues to deliver an excellent music and video experience.
