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Carl F.Gauss and Ernst H. Weber build the electromagnetic telegraph. The telegraph was the first step to making electrical signals travel from one device to another
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Alexander Graham Bell discovers the principle of the telephone.
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American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) took control of Western Union Telegraph Company. This is the beginning of "Ma Bell" which would be the largest telephone company in the US until the 1980's.
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Research on electronic telephone exchanges began in Bell Labs and was ultimately perfected in the 1960s with AT&T’s Electronic Switching System (ESS).
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First commercial mobile telephone service put into service in 1946, linking moving vehicles to the telephone network by radio.
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Transmission via coaxial cables was accomplished. This wire has a center wire and insulation all around and reduces radio wave interference
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Videophones became more affordable and practical. People could now see who they were talking to.
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Telstar, the world’s first international communications satellite, was rocketed into orbit on July 10 with the collaboration between NASA and the Bell System. Telephone calls could now be "bounced" off a satellite to a switching station
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Bell System introduces the touch tone phone. This telephone made a different beep for each number instead of counted clicks for each number.
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AT&T agrees to breakup its Bell System telephone companies. "Ma Bell" becomes a bunch of "Baby Bells".