I thought it would be interesting to know the history of the telephone here in Chicago. A quick timeline on the growth of an industry that has changed our lives.
1876 Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates first working telephone
1877 First telephone is demonstrated in Chicago
1878 Telephone service begins in Chicago with over 400 subscribers. Illinois Bell (formerly known as Chicago Telephone Company) dominates the market
1880 2,970 telephones in Chicago
1883 First telephone directory
1890 7,766 telephones in Chicago
1900 34,410 telephones in Chicago
1910 239,082 telephones in Chicago
1920 557,981 telephones. Chicago Telephone Company becomes Illinois Bell
1931 953,203 telephones in Chicago
1947 1,396,387 telephones. Area codes begin. Chicago Loop area code 312. Operators are still needed to make long distance calls.
1960 1,931,694 telephones in Chicago. Phones become 100% dial only.
1961 Direct dial long distance calls begin in Chicago
1980’s AT&T broken up and new telephone companies start up.
1989 – With the popularity of dial up modems, pagers, fax machines, etc. the need for 1996 more phone numbers is apparent and the 312 area code is split into 4 codes (312, 773, 630, 708) during the 1989-1996 time frame
1973 The first cellular phone was demonstrated by Chicago’s own Motorola.
2007 Apple announces the first iPhone.
The rest is HISTORY!
Comments