Can You Hear Me Now · Episode 6 of 14 · 23 min
Mr. Watson, Come Here
On March 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell's request for his assistant to come into the room became the first words recorded as heard over a telephone. A patent race with Elisha Gray, and Antonio Meucci's earlier claim, are still argued. The episode follows the Bell System's rise and Theodore Vail's bargain of universal service, its women operators, and the copper landline now being retired.
Who's who
- Alexander Graham Bell+1 more episodeTeacher of the deaf who received the 1876 telephone patent
- Thomas A. WatsonBell's assistant who heard the first words in the next room
- Elisha GrayInventor whose caveat reached the Patent Office same day as Bell
- Antonio MeucciStaten Island inventor who claimed to have been first
- Theodore N. VailAT&T president who coined One Policy, One System, Universal Service
- Emma NuttBoston telephone operator widely described as the first woman operator
- Almon B. StrowgerUndertaker whose patent led to the first automatic exchange
- William GrayHartford machinist credited with the coin-operated pay telephone
Where it happens
- Boston, Massachusetts+11 more episodesWhere Bell and Watson spoke through the first telephone
- Staten Island, New York+4 more episodesHome of Antonio Meucci
- La Porte, IndianaFirst commercial automatic exchange opened in 1892
- New Haven, Connecticut+1 more episodeFirst commercial telephone exchange opened in 1878
- Bryant Pond, MaineBelieved last hand-crank exchange in the United States
Timeline
- March 7, 1876Bell receives United States patent 174,465
- March 10, 1876Bell's notebook records Mr. Watson, come here, heard through a liquid transmitter
- September 1, 1878Emma Nutt begins work as a telephone operator in Boston
- December 19, 1913The Kingsbury Commitment settles a federal antitrust challenge
- January 25, 1915Bell and Watson open the transcontinental line
- January 1, 1984The Bell System is broken up
Still debated
Who invented the telephone remains disputed among serious historians, with cases for Bell, Gray and Meucci, and no agreement on who reached the Patent Office first. Whether monopoly or competition spread the telephone faster is open, as is whether fiber and wireless can match copper in emergencies.
