The History of the Telephone

Before the telephone, people could only communicate over long distances by mail or telegraph. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. For the first time, people could hear each other's voices from far away. The telephone changed communication forever.

The Invention

Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call on March 10, 1876. He said to his assistant, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." At first, telephones were only in businesses and wealthy homes. By the early 1900s, telephone lines connected millions of homes across the country.

From Landlines to Smartphones

For most of the 1900s, phones were connected to walls by wires. The first mobile phones appeared in the 1980s and were big and heavy. Smartphones arrived in the 2000s and could do much more than make calls. Today, smartphones are tiny computers that fit in your pocket.

Fun Facts

• Alexander Graham Bell's first words on the telephone were "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you."
• The first mobile phone call was made in 1973 by Martin Cooper using a phone that weighed 2.4 pounds.
• There are now more mobile phones in the world than there are people.

Did You Know?

Alexander Graham Bell also considered "ahoy" instead of "hello" as the proper way to answer the telephone.