Page 145 - Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia (DK - Smithsonian)

◀ GETTING CONNECTED
Callers would lift the phone and ask an
exchange for the number they wanted, Finger-sized holes
then the operator plugged the line into allow the caller to
a switchboard to make the connection. turn the dial and
select a telephone
number.

THE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION
EXCHANGE
Early telephones came in pairs and
connected only with each other.
It needed the invention of a central
exchange, to which all local
telephones were connected, to
allow any person to call any other.

GOING MOBILE
The first portable phones without
cords appeared in the early 1980s.
Networks had relatively few
radio frequencies, but millions
of users, and calls could be ▲ AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE
EXCHANGE PHONE
handled automatically This 1905 phone was designed for
without an operator. use with an automatic exchange,
which first appeared in 1889.

WOW!
Dr. Martin Cooper with
the first portable handset
The first words ever
spoken on a telephone
were, “Mr. Watson, come
here, I want you.”
TEXTING said by Alexander
The first text message ever sent Graham Bell.
was in 1992 and read “Happy
Christmas.” Texting was slow to
catch on—the first phone with a
full keyboard did not appear until 1996.
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