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Telegraph
When Bell began experimenting with electrical signals, the telegraph had been an established means of communication for some 30 years. -
Innocenzo Manzetti first mooted the idea of a “speaking telegraph”
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Charles Bourseul publishes an article in a magazine L'Illustration (Paris)
The article was about electric transmition of speech -
Johann Philipp Reis publicly demonstrated the Reis telephone before the Physical Society of Frankfurt
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Rumors in England
La Feuille d'Aoste reported “It is rumored that English technicians to whom Mr. Manzetti illustrated his method for transmitting spoken words on the telegraph wire intend to apply said invention in England on several private telegraph lines.” -
Antonio Meucci files a patent caveat in the U.S. Patent Office titled "Sound Telegraph".
The patent was describing communication of voice between two people by wire. -
Bell's U.S Patent
Transmitters and Receivers for Electric Telegraphs is granted. This uses multiple vibrating steel reeds in make-break circuits. -
Gray invents a liquid transmitter for use with a telephone but does not build one.
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Elisha Gray files a patent caveat for transmitting the human voice through a telegraphic circuit.
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Alexander Bell applies for the patent "Improvements in Telegraphy", for electromagnetic telephones using undulating currents.
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Gray is notified by the U.S. Patent Office of an interference between his caveat and Bell's patent application. Gray decides to abandon his caveat.
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Telephone switchboard was invented
A Hungarian engineer, Tivadar Puskás quickly invented the telephone switchboard in 1876, which allowed for the formation of telephone exchanges and networks. -
Bell's U.S. patent 174,465 "Improvement in Telegraphy" is granted
Covering "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically … by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound." -
Invention of telephone
The first successful telephone transmission of clear speech using a liquid transmitter when Bell spoke into his device, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” and Watson heard each word distinctly.
Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in March 1876. -
Bell's U.S. patent 186,787 is granted for an electromagnetic telephone using permanent magnets, iron diaphragms, and a call bell.
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Edison files for a patent on a carbon (graphite) transmitter.
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Edison was granted patent 222,390 for a carbon granules transmitter
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Patent 474,230 was granted after a 15 year delay because of litigation.
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Western Electric Non Dial Candlestick in the Early 1900s
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Western Electric Dial Candlestick in 1920s
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Western Electric "102" with Dial in 1920s/1930s
Western Electric introduced the "102" in 1927. It was their first phone utilizing a handset that combined the transmitter and receiver. -
Western Electric "202" with Dial in 1930s
Almost immediately after offering the round base "102," Western Electric introduced this updated version. The biggest difference is the oval base. -
Western Electric "202" with Dial in 1940s/1950s
With the introduction of the "302" in 1937, Western Electric began offering the streamlined F-1 handest on the "202." -
Reginald Fessenden demonstrates shrore-to-ship radio telephony
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Martin Cooper makes the first call on a hand-held mobile
Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive is considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone for hand-held use in a non-vehicle setting, after a long race against Bell Labs for the first portable mobile phone. Using a modern, if somewhat heavy portable handset, Cooper made the first call on a hand-held mobile phone on April 3, 1973 to his rival, Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs -
The first commercially automated cellular network (the 1G generation) is launched in Japan by NTT
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Mobile phones have been available
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The first 1G network launched in the USA using the Motorola DynaTAC mobile phone.
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The first "2G" technology was launched
The first "modern" network technology on digital 2G (second generation) cellular technology was launched by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Group) in 1991 in Finland on the GSM standard -
The first commercial launch of 3G in Japan by NTT DoCoMo on the WCDMA standard.
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Digital Telephone Service
Up to 10% of telephone subscribers in Japan and South Korea have switched to this digital telephone service. A January 2005 Newsweek article suggested that Internet telephony may be "the next big thing. -
TODAY
By the end of 2009, there were a total of nearly 6 billion mobile and fixed-line subscribers worldwide. This included 1.26 billion fixed-line subscribers and 4.6 billion mobile subscribers.
The telephone today has become a necessity for each one of us, rather than a want. Humans get intrested in electric phones, and especially in cell phones, from a very young age.
Without the electric phone, our world would be lost, since many people can't even imagine their life without it. -
Western Electric "302" with Dial in 1940s/1950s
Designed by Henry Dreyfuss, the "302" was introduced in 1937 with a metal housing. Great art deco styling, it was the first phone to have all the components in base. Great old time ring, too!
