Telephone Timeline of Events

Home / Timelines / Telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

Timeline of Events

1876

2.14.1876

Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

3.7.1876

Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone beating Antonio Meucci by four hours.

3.10.1876

Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."

1877

6.20.1877

Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

1927

1.7.1927

The first transatlantic telephone call is made – from New York City to London.

1951

11.10.1951

Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.

1963

11.18.1963

The first push-button telephone goes into service.

1990

1.15.1990

AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.

2002

6.11.2002

Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.