NATIONAL LANDLINE TELEPHONE DAY
Today we honor the same day in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell transmitted his very first phone call to Thomas Watson.
The words on the call were “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” Imagine his delight when he assistant appeared and told him that he understood the words.
What is a Landline Telephone?
We have such ease in making phone calls today on mobile devices but this was not always the case. To do this in the past, we needed to use a landline telephone.
A landline telephone is a phone that uses metal wire, or optical fiber telephone lines for transmission. The mobile phones that we know and love, on the contrary, use radio waves for transmission. The terminology of landline phones has changed slightly over the years. It is now commonly meant to refer to a fixed-line home phone.
In spite of the ease of using mobile phones, there are some advantages to landline phones:
- Landlines are more dependable and don’t drop signals.
- A landline doesn’t need to be charged daily.
- The reception on landlines is more consistent and very clear.
History and Facts
- Alexander Graham Bell was not the only person to apply for a patent for the telephone. Elisha Grey, actually filed a patent within hours of Bell. Because Bell's was earlier, he was awarded the patent on March 7, 1876.
- On August 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell makes the world's first long-distance telephone call, one-way, not reciprocal, over a distance of about 6 miles, between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, Canada.
- Just over a year later, Bell Telephone Company was founded and telephone lines were installed from Boston to Sommerville, MA.
- Mark Twain was one of the first to have a phone in his home.
- The first phone book was only 20 pages long.
- Almost 100 years later, in 1967, the one millionth telephone was installed.
- By the year 2000, there were 16 landline telephone lines for every 100 people in the world.
- Between 1995 and 2008, over 25% of American homes no longer had landline telephones. By March 2020, only 40%of households still had a landline.
- The world's most expensive phone number was auctioned for charity in Qatar in 2006. The number, 666-6666, sold for over 2 million dollars
- When Alexander Graham bell died in 1922, all 14 million telephones in the US and Canada stopped ringing for one full minute as a tribute.
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