History of the Telephone
"MR. WATSON COME HERE. I WANT YOU!"
Everybody knows that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. On March 7, 1876 Bell received the Patent for his invention, and on March 10 in Boston, Massachusetts of the same year, he made the first and most famous "phone call" to a gentleman in the other room upon spilling acid on his clothes, "Watson, come here. I want you!"
Mr. Bell was married to Mabel Hubbard in July of the following year at Boston, and gave his engaged wife two gifts before the wedding to attest to his true love. One was an attractive cross of pearls, and the other was a legal document granting full ownership of the new "Bell" company and telephone invention to her. He maintained only 10 shares for himself! Over a relatively short time, this invention made his family very wealthy enabling them to build and own mansions in Washington D.C., and Nova Scotia, Canada.
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA…
Another historic telephone call Mr. Bell made was the first trans-continental call from New York to Mr. Tom Watson in San Francisco on January 25, 1915. "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!" once again was transmitted, this time across the country and received loud and clear. The introduction of the "loading coil" attached every mile amplified speaking range to effective distance of 1,000 miles, then the invention of the three element vacuum tube by Lee De Forest in 1906 and amplification properties made the 1915 phone call a reality. Alexander Graham Bell’s call across America to Mr. Watson proved distance was no longer a barrier to telephone voice communication systems.
THE TELEPHONE AND BEYOND…
Alexander Graham Bell's interests and contributions were not limited to the telephone. Mr. Bell was an articulate speaker; a trait passed down from his grandfather. His expertise with the study of speech, and the structure of creating words and sounds were dedicated to teaching the deaf to speak. He worked closely with Helen Keller, teaching her to communicate with the world around her. Mr. Bell was also President of the National Geographic Society. His great achievements included an air conditioning system, the "photophone" which was a wireless unit that transmitted speech, seawater to fresh water converting process, experimentation with sending speech and sounds over a beam of light, apparatus called the "vacuum jacket" adding respiratory patients to breathe, and the metal detector. He also developed improvements to the phonograph, hydrofoil boat design and formed the Aerial Experiment Association in his studies of flight which included design and flight of special kites. Mr. Bell's life is true testament not to specialize in one area, but use ones talents in broad scope to enlighten personal growth and that of others around you.
THE CREATION AND ROOTS OF TELEPHONE SYSTEM
I WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE...
Shortly after the invention of Bell's telephone, the vast wired voice communication network began to take shape throughout the world. No longer was Morse code the preferred mode of instant communication; people wanted to hear a voice on the other end of the wire. Calls were directed by networks of human operators working switchboards, and were forwarded to intended destinations.
The first commercial telephone network of 21 telephones and one page telephone directory commenced service in New Haven, Connecticut in January of 1878, which is now the headquarters for Southern New England Telephone (SNET). Across America 138 telephone exchanges were in place with over 30,000 subscribers by 1880. After only eleven years of Mr. Bell's introduction of the telephone, 444 branch exchanges provided connectivity through 146,000 miles of copper wire to over 150,000 U.S. subscribers by 1887. This expansion was not limited to the United States. By 1887 there were 22,000 subscribers to local telephone networks in Germany, 22,000 in Canada, 26,000 in England, 7,000 in Russia, 9,000 in Italy, 9,000 in France, and 12,000 in Sweden.
AUTOMATIC SWITCHING.GOOD FOR BUSINESS!
An interesting historical footnote to operator switchboards and capitalism proves the old proverb of "necessity being the mother of all inventions". One of the greatest technological advancements to the telecommunications industry was the invention of the automatic switching system.
In 1891, Almon Brown Strowger received a patent for telephone automatic switching system. This fundamental principle is the backbone to the operation of all telephone systems no matter how sophisticated, both public and private branch exchange (PBX), which permits the caller to select a line and place call without assistance of operator. How and why he developed this system is most interesting. Mr. Strowger was a Funeral Home operator in Kansas City, Missouri. He was convinced that the human operators in his town were purposely redirecting calls for his services to his competitors, causing him to lose business.
Mr. Strowger invented the first automatic switching system allowing call to be placed without the need of the human operator. The first automatic switching systems were known as the Strowger switch, and although they did not completely replace the human operator, their role and importance were dramatically changed. Mr. Strowger's funeral customers were then able to access his services directly!
BEFORE RADIO.THE TELEPHONE BROADCAST
Pre-dating radio, TV, tele-conferencing and commuting a novel usage of the telephone network was initiated in Budapest, Hungary in 1893. At this point there were over 6,500 subscribers to their telephone network. Concerts, news broadcasts, financial reports and theatrical presentations were transmitted over wire for up to 14 hours a day. Networks also appeared in London and France. Radio later dominated this arena, but it is interesting to compare the advent of the computer Internet and see how history repeats itself 100 years later.
With the ever changing telecommunications industry of today, from sophisticated voice mail telephone system which can outcall to your pager indicating messages in your box.to caller ID signaling creating pop up screens to related files through computer telephony integration.and all of the ISDN, DID, and digital telephone lines available.it is amazing to look back and see the connection with the past and the basic need for people to communicate over distances from next door to around the world.
I thoroughly enjoyed researching this subject, and encourage others to study the history of telecommunications and telephone systems. It has put a lot in perspective for me, and actually has given me increased knowledge relating to design and use of modern phone systems. My Grandfather, Malcom D. Smith was employed with New England Bell in Providence, from just after serving in World War I through the early 70's when he retired and passed on. If he came back to life today, he would be astonished by the progress made during the last 25 years from manual switching and rotary dialing apparatus to the sophisticated electronic and digital telephone systems of today. I hope you enjoyed this information as much as I enjoyed presenting it.
Cliff Ferguson
References and Special Thanks:
Telephone, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 1993-1999
Encyclopedia Britannica
Alexander Graham Bell History, 1991
Hello, Alexander Graham Bell Speaking, 1991
The World Book Encyclopedia, 1992
Danny Farnham, Rockville, CT
Walter Miller, Portland, CT
Brad Kluczwski, Space Fitters, Inc., South Windsor CT