"NEW YORK NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA"

FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL PHONE CALL MADE BY AT&T PRESIDENT

San Francisco, California (JFK+50) On July 29, 1914, the first transcontinental telephone call was made from New York City to San Francisco by the president of American Telephone & Telegraph Company.

The final splice in the transcontinental line was made at Wendover, Nevada.  

AT&T had purchased Alexander Graham Bell's company in 1899 and began researching the possibility of building a transcontinental telephone line in 1908.

The first transcontinental telephone service began on January 15, 1915.

JFK+50 NOTE

By 1907, AT&T controlled 80% of the U.S. telephone system market.  Today it is the third largest telecommunications company behind T-mobile & Verizon.

SOURCES

"Alexander Graham Bell Demonstrates AT&T Transcontinental Telephone Line," The Learning Network, Janaury 25, 2012, www.learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

"First Test Transcontinental Phone Call Made 101 Years Ago," JFK+50, July 29, 2015, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

"The First Transcontinental Telephone Call," This Day in Tech History, www.thisdayintechhistory.com/

 

 

Alexander Graham Bell

Calling Chicago from New York City

1892

garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/

TELSTAR II

JFK+50:  Volume 5, No. 1942

TELSTAR II LAUNCHED 53 YEARS AGO

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) Fifty-three years ago today, May 7, 1963, Telstar II, a communications satellite, was successfully launched into orbit from here at the Cape.  The satellite was a joint venture of NASA, Bell Laboratories and American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation.

Telstar I  was nearly identical to Telstar I which was launched in 1962 but began to malfunction in February 1963.  Like Telstar I, Telstar II made possible the transmission of live television images across the Atlantic Ocean.

 Telstar II

Photo from The Goddard Library

NASA Photo

FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL TELEPHONE TEST

FIRST TEST TRANSCONTINENTAL PHONE CALL MADE 101 YEARS AGO

San Francisco, California (JFK+50) One hundred and one years ago today, July 29, 1914, the first transcontinental telephone call was made from New York City to San Francisco although AT&T would delay making transcontinental telephone service available to the public for six months.*

The test call was made by the president of AT&T.

The final splice on the line, which was started in 1913, was made at Wendover, Nevada on the border with Utah on June 17, 1914.  According to Ernest D. Holly III, his grandfather, Ralph E. "Knute" Knudsen, was the lineman who made the last splice. 

Mr. Holly possesses a poster that was presented to his grandfather upon his retirement from Pac Bell in 1955.  The poster, which reads "The Man Who Linked East to West," bears the signatures of one hundred of Mr. Knudsen's co-workers.

American Telephone & Telegraph purchased Alexander Graham Bell's company in 1899 and began an investigation of the feasibility of building a transcontinental line in 1908.  The initial problem encountered was that as voice signals passed along the line they would become inaudible after long distances.

According to the Learning Network, a solution was found by Lee De Forrest who invented a "high-vacuum tube that amplified the sound of the voice."  De Forrest's invention was improved by Harold Arnold of AT&T.

*The first transcontinental telephone service went into operation on January 25, 1915.

SOURCES

"Alexander Graham Bell Demonstrates AT&T's Transcontinental Telephone Line," The Learning Network, January 25, 2012, www.learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

"The First Transcontinental Phone Call," This Day in Tech History, The History of Technology in a Daily Blog, www.thisdayintechhistory.com/

JFK CONGRATULATES GRISSOM 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago today, July 29, 1961, President John F. Kennedy placed a call by radio telephone from the White House to the USS Randolph to congratulate Air Force Captain Virgil "Gus" Grissom on his successful spaceflight.



101st AIRBORNE ARRIVES IN SOUTH VIETNAM

Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam (JFK+50) Fifty years ago today, July 29, 1965, 4000 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army arrived here in Southeast Asia.

Most of the operations conducted by the 101st were to be in the Central Highlands and the A Shau Valley.

During its time of service in Vietnam, the 101st earned 17 Medals of Honor for bravery in combat.

 101st Airborne Soldiers in Vietnam