The Story of Communication:

Telephone—Timeline

1684: Robert Hooke lays out plan for visual telegraph; no one tries it.
1790: British adopt secret ship-to-ship code using 10 colored flags, code book.
1794: In Revolutionary France, Claude Chappe sets up semaphore signaling system.
1800: Semaphore-like system built between Boston and Martha’s Vineyard.
1800: Allesandro Volta’s battery provides first long-term source of electricity.
1801: Semaphore system built along the coast of France.
1803: Semaphore code is used on ships.
1810: An electro-chemical telegraph is constructed in Germany.
1814: Under Napoleon, optical signal system stretches from Belgium to Italy.
1815: Pigeons carry news of Waterloo; bankers make killing on stock market.
1823: In England, Ronalds builds a telegraph in his garden; no one is interested.
1830: First railway, Manchester to Liverpool, uses 5-needle telegraph.
1833: In Germany, the Weber and Gauss telegraph line runs for nearly two miles.
1837: Samuel Morse exhibits pendulum telegraph, but Alfred Vail invents Morse Code.
1837: Wheatstone and Cooke patent an electric telegraph in England.
1839: India gets an experimental electrical telegraph 21 miles long.
1839: In London, a commercial telegraph line sends messages.
1842: In England, Alexander Bain demonstrates a crude fax machine.
1843: Congress gives Morse funds to build an experimental telegraph line.
1843: Rubbery “gutta percha is” found in Malaya, a future submarine cable wrap.
1844: Samuel Morse’s telegraph connects Washington and Baltimore.
1845: Telegraph message leads to capture of murderer in London.
1846: Printing telegraph is forerunner of ticker tape.
1847: First use of telegraph as business tool.
1850: Submarine cable briefly connects England and France.
1851: In London, Frederick Bakewell demonstrates fax machine to send pictures.
1851: The Erie railroad depends on the telegraph.
1852: Telegraphic fire alarm system adopted in Boston, will spread worldwide.
1853: Duplex system doubles telegraph wire capacity.
1853: European optical signalling system has 556 stations.
1854: Bourseul in France builds an experimental telephone.
1854: Telegraph brings news of the Crimean War.
1858: First effort at transatlantic telegraph service fails.
1859: Telegraph reaches from Atlantic to Pacific.
1861: Telegraph brings Pony Express to an abrupt end.
1861: German inventor J.P. Reis demonstrates a kind of telephone.
1861: Aerial balloonist sends telegraph message.
1862: In Italy, the Abbe Caselli sends a drawing over a wire.
1863: Typotelegraph sends fax messages between London and Liverpool.
1865: Paris and Berlin build networks of pneumatic tube telegram delivery.
1865: In Paris, the International Telegraph Union is founded.
1865: Pantelegraph transmits faxes commercially between Paris and Lyon.
1866: Western Union dominates U.S. wires.
1866: Atlantic cable ties Europe and U.S. for instant communication.
1866: Prussia uses telegraph to coordinate its armies in war against Austria.
1869: Edison patents stock ticker and printing telegraph.
1869: John Hyatt’s invention of celluloid will lead to phonograph records, telephones.
1870: Stock ticker comes to Wall Street.
1870: Pigeons carry microphotographed secret messages in Franco-Prussian War.
1870: Telegraph across Europe and Asia connects London with Calcutta, 11,000 km.
1872: Simultaneous transmission from both ends of a telegraph wire.
1874: Quadriplex telegraph system allows four messages to travel over single wire.
1874: Baudot telegraph code prints using five channels of paper tape.
1876: “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.” Bell invents the telephone.
1877: Edwin Holmes builds a telephone switchboard.
1877: Bell “photophone” uses light to transmit audio, anticipates fiber optics.
1877: Emile Berliner invents the microphone. So does David Hughes.
1878: Edison invents a better microphone.
1878: In New Haven, Connecticut, a telephone central exchange.
1878: Emma Nutt becomes the first woman hired as a telephone operator.
1878: First of 300 patents issued for acoustic “string” telephones.
1878: Telephone directories are issued.
1879: Starting in Lowell, Massachusetts, telephone numbers replace names.
1880: The U.S. has about 50,000 telephones.
1880: Telephone pay stations are opened in New York.
1881: Paris Exposition lets visitors listen to opera over telephone headsets.
1881: Selford Bidwell sends electronic image by telegraph using photoelectric cell.
1882: In England, the first wirephotos.
1884: People can now make long distance phone calls.
1888: A mortician, Almon Strowger, develops automatic phone switching exchange.
1888: The coin-operated public telephone, patented by William Gray.
1888: Lehigh Valley Railroad adopts wireless telegraph; used induction coil.
1890: In Paris, subscribers regularly hear live performances by phone.
1891: The first international phone call via submarine cable, London - Paris.
1892: Automatic telephone switchboard comes into service.
1895: Dial telephones go into Milwaukee’s city hall.
1898: World total of working telegraph wire: near three million miles.
1900: Michael Pupin’s loading coil reduces telephone voice distortion.
1903: Pacific Cable completed. Message circles the globe in 12 minutes.
1904: A photograph is transmitted experimentally by wire.
1904: Sir John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube and diode.
1904: The telephone answering machine.
1905: Painesville, Ohio, phone company transmits music recital to 1,000 listeners.
1906: Lee De Forest invents the triode.
1906: International Radiotelegraph Union is founded.
1907: A photograph is transmitted by wire across France.
1907: Commercial fax system for photos operates between Paris, London, and Berlin.
1907: U.S. cavalry tests wired mobile phone; horse’s flank provides the ground.
1913: AT&T pledges universal phone service, expands to rural areas.
1914: First transcontinental telephone call.
1914: Underground cables link Boston, New York, and Washington.
1915: Vacuum tube amplifiers aid coast-to-coast phone transmission.
1915: Sonar.
1915: Americans average 40 phone calls a year.
1915: Long distance phone lines connect New York and California.
1918: Multiplexing increases telephone transmission capacity.
1919: AT&T places dial telephones in offices and homes.
1921: Western Union begins wirephoto service.
1921: Photographs can be transmitted by wire across the Atlantic.
1922: RCA radio-faxes a photo across the Atlantic Ocean in six minutes.
1923: A picture, broken into dots, is sent by wire.
1924: Pictures are faxed regularly between London and New York.
1925: Commercial picture facsimile radio service across the U.S.
1926: Commercial picture facsimile radio service across the Atlantic.
1927: Two-way AT&T radio phone service, U.S. to London, $75 for 5 minutes.
1928: The teletype machine makes its debut.
1929: Telegraph ticker sends 500 characters per minute.
1929: Ship passengers can phone relatives ashore.
1930: From AT&T, high quality insulated phone wire.
1931: Two-way radio phone service from U.S. to Hawaii.
1931: Commercial teletype service.
1933: Singing telegrams.
1934: Associated Press starts wirephoto service.
1934: International Telecommunication Union merges telegraph, radio groups.
1934: In Scotland, teletypesetting sets type by phone line.
1934: Radiophone service, U.S. to Japan, but plagued by fading, interference.
1935: First telephone call made around the world.
1937: Telephone Pulse Code Modulation points the way to digital transmission.
1939: Western Union introduces coast-to-coast fax service.
1941: Touch-tone dialing tried in Baltimore.
1941: The push button telephone.
1941: Microwave transmission.
1943: Repeaters on phone lines quiet long distance call noise.
1945: U.S. has 2,000 miles of co-axial cable.
1946: U.S. nationwide numbering plan.
1946: In St. Louis, automobile radio telephones connect to telephone network.
1948: Theory developed for check-bits to detect errors in phone switching.
1948: From RCA, the Ultrafax system can transmit one million words per minute.
1948: Western Union manufactures 50,000 Deskfax machines for fax transmission.
1950: Party lines make up 75 percent of all U.S. telephone lines.
1951: Americans can dial long distance calls directly instead of needing operator.
1952: Telephone area codes.
1955: Tests begin to provide massive digital communication via fiber optics.
1955: Teletypesetting, using paper tape, diffuses among American newspapers.
1956: Bell’s test Picturephone sends one image every two seconds.
1956: First transatlantic telephone calls by submarine cable.
1956: Hush-a-Phone court ruling forces AT&T to allow outside equipment in network.
1956: The pager. Hospitals are quick to buy.
1958: Data moves speedily over regular phone circuits.
1959: Princess telephones in 5 colors go on sale.
1960: The Post Office experiments with facsimile mail.
1960: Theodore Maiman uses a synthetic ruby to build first true laser.
1960: AT&T installs first electronic switching system.
1960: Taking a food order by telephone, Domino’s delivers a pizza.
1961: Bell Labs tests communication by light waves.
1962: Touch-tone phones are a hit at the Seattle World’s Fair.
1962: AT&T introduces T-1 multiplex service in Skokie, Illinois.
1962: Plastic insulation for phone lines.
1962: Packet-switching networks.
1964: TTY developed out of personal need by deaf physicist Robert Weitbrecht.
1964: Picturephone tested: Disneyland to N.Y. World’s Fair. Public ignores it.
1964: Transpacific submarine telephone cable service begins.
1965: Computer-based telephone digital switching replaces electromagnetic system.
1965: Mobile radio telephone service widely available in the U.S.
1965: 9 of 10 U.S. telephones can use direct distance dialing.
1965: Electronic phone exchange gives customers extra services.
1966: Charles Kao’s waveguide light theory will lead to communication channels.
1966: Xerox sells the Telecopier, a fax machine.
1967: Cordless telephones enter the phone system.
1968: First digital wireless network, Linkabit, created in San Diego.
1970: U.S. Post Office and Western Union offer Mailgrams.
1970: AP sends news by computer.
1970: Picturephone commercial service begins in downtown Pittsburgh.
1971: Cellphone is invented.
1971: Software patent issued for computerized telephone switching system.
1974: Coaxial cable can carry 108,000 phone conversations at the same time.
1974: Telephone “hot line” is set up between the White House and the Kremlin.
1974: International digital voice transmission.
1974: Satellite transmission of mailgrams.
1975: Last manual telephone switchboard in Maine is retired.
1977: In Chicago, AT&T transmits telephone calls by fiber optics.
1977: MCI ends AT&T exclusivity for long distance phone service.
1978: First tests of cellular telephones.
1979: In Japan, first cellphone network.
1980: Public international electronic fax service, Intelpost, begins.
1980: International committee (CCITT) sets compatibility standards for fax machines.
1980: The Minitel telephone system begins in France; it still runs.
1980: Atlanta gets first fiber optics system.
1981: Wave system eliminates feedback distortion from telephone calls.
1982: Caller ID.
1983: Intercity fiber optic phone transmission begins: New York and Washington.
1983: AT&T forced to break up; 7 Baby Bells are born.
1983: In Chicago, Motorola starts testing cellphone service.
1984: AT&T fiber optic cable service extends from Boston to Washington.
1984: Japanese introduce high quality facsmile over phone lines.
1985: Cellphones go into cars.
1987: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL).
1988: First transatlantic telephone call over fiber optics line.
1988: Self-service fax machine can be accessed by credit card.
1989: Pacific Link fiber optic cable opens, can carry 40,000 phone calls.
1991: Baby Bells get government permission to offer information services.
1991: English scientists build optical amplifiers into fiber cable.
1991: Data is transmitted through optical fiber at 32 billion bits per second.
1993: Rumors fly that cellphones cause brain cancer; sales continue to soar.
1993: Nokia sends text messages between mobile phones.
1993: Picturephone updated to put faces on computer screen for transmission.
1994: Hewlitt Packard combines printer, fax, and copier into one machine.
1995: Personal Communication Service (PCS) digital wireless phones.
1995: Caller ID now nationwide in U.S.
1996: Optical fiber cable line stretches across the Pacific.
1996: Telecommunication Reform Act: phone, cable, broadcast companies compete.
1996: A pocket telephone/computer comes on the market.
1997: Palm produces the first handheld device with the Palm OS.
1997: Optical fiber cable lines now stretch around the world.
1998: Associated Press once had 1,500 telegraph operators, now has four.
1998: HP introduces the Jornada PDA (personal digital assistant).
1998: Americans average 2,300 phone calls a year.
1999: Baby Bells start to offer long distance phone service.
2000: 40 million mobile wireless users worldwide, most in Europe, Asia.
2000: 65% of all people in Finland own mobile phones, lead the world.
2003: Auckland, New Zealand, has city-wide high-speed wireless network.
2003: Cellphones add computer and Internet capabilities.
2003: The IP phone is a mini-computer that can transmit movies.
2004: Survey lists cellphones as chief American love/hate object.
2004: Wi-fi cellphone/cameras are replacing some computers.
2004: 1.5 billion cellphones worldwide.
2004: Employers can use GPS tracking to see if service workers are on the job.
2004: University in San Diego offers degree in wireless communication.
2004: U.S. government limits telemarketers.


Space Communication

1945: Arthur Clarke envisions geosynchronous communication satellites.
1946: U.S. Army Signal Corps reports bouncing radar signal off moon, getting echo.
1957: Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 beep-beeps from space.
1957: Sputnik 2 carries a dog, Laika, on a one-way space journey.
1958: Broadcast is bounced off a rocket; it is pre-satellite communication.
1958: First successful U.S. satellite, Explorer I, sends signals about Van Allen Belt.
1960: Tiros I is the first weather satellite.
1960: Echo I, a U.S. balloon in orbit, reflects radio signals to Earth.
1962: The Telstar satellite sends television across the Atlantic.
1962: Comsat created to launch, operate global satellite system.
1962: Telstar, first international communication satellite, transmits an image.
1962: Mariner II sends radio signals from Venus.
1963: Presidents of U.S., Nigeria have phone conversation via satellite.
1963: Communications satellite, Syncom II, goes into geo-synchronous orbit.
1964: Olympic Games in Tokyo telecast live globally by satellite.
1964: Mariner IV sends television images from Mars.
1964: Russian scientists bounce a signal off Jupiter.
1964: Intelsat, international satellite organization, is formed.
1964: McLuhan’s Understanding Media describes the global village.
1965: Satellites begin domestic TV distribution in Soviet Union.
1965: Commercial communications satellite Early Bird, (Intelsat I), orbits.
1969: Astronauts send live photographs from the moon to worldwide audience.
1972: A satellite is used for live television transmission.
1972: “Open Skies”: any U.S. firm can have communication satellites.
1972: Landsat I, “eye-in-the-sky” satellite, is launched.
1972: Satellites used for television news reports.
1974: “Teacher-in-the-Sky” satellite begins educational mission.
1974: Wall Street Journal successfully transmits an edition by satellite.
1976: Small satellite dishes go into residential backyards.
1976: Viking II sends color photos from Mars.
1976: Ted Turner delivers programming nationwide by satellite.
1978: PBS goes to satellite for delivery, abandoning telephone lines.
1980: Intelsat V relays 12,000 phone calls, 2 color TV channels.
1980: Voyager 1 sends images of Saturn and its moons, one billion miles away.
1984: Trucks used for SNG (satellite news gathering).
1984: CONUS relays news feeds for stations on Ku-band satellites.
1985: U.S. TV networks begin satellite distribution to affiliates.
1986: Voyager 2 sends back images of Uranus.
1991: Motorola works on a communication system to reach entire globe.
1994: Digital satellite TV service, DirecTV, offered in the U.S.
1994: To reduce Western influence, 12 nations ban or restrict satellite dishes.
1995: Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS) beam digital programs to home dishes.
1995: DBS feeds are offered nationwide in U.S.
1997: Pathfinder’s Mars pictures released; NASA website gets 46 million hits.
2001: Intelsat goes private, no longer an inter-governmental organization.
2002: South Africa’s Sesame Street introduces an HIV-positive muppet.
2003: Intelsat has more than 20 communication satellites orbiting worldwide.
2004: Photos by two rover vehicles beamed back from Mars.

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