The Birth and Babyhood of the Telephone

Telephone Milestones

1892 Service opened between New York and Chicago, 900 miles.

1902 First long-distance underground cable in use, 10 miles—New York to Newark.

1915 First conversation from coast to coast, 3,650 miles—Boston to San Francisco.

1921 Opening of deep sea cable, 115 miles—Key West, Fla., to Havana, Cuba.

1927 Transatlantic telephone service opened between New York and London, 3,500 miles.

First public demonstration of television by wire and radio.

1929 Ship-to-shore telephone service established.

1931 Teletypewriter exchange service inaugurated.

1935 First telephone call around the world.

1937 Connections possible to 93% of world’s telephones.

1938 Direct radio telephone circuit established between San Francisco and Australia.