… for your 132 Years of Existence.

10 March 1876—The first successful telephone transmission of clear speech when Bell spoke into his device, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” and Watson heard each word distinctly.

Some interesting facts:

• HOY, HOY. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, originally wanted to answer the phone by saying, “Hoy, Hoy!” Thanks to Thomas Edison and his insistence, we answer the phone with a simple, “Hello.”
• At the first demonstration of the telephone, the public was intrigued, but doubted its practical use. Acceptance of the phone was slow, with doctors and pharmacists as its primary customers.
• More women than men were operators because women were found to be more friendly, docile and accommodating than men. In New York alone, in 1910, there were 6,000 women switchboard operators. At this time, the telephone was only operable 12 hours a day.
• In 1915, the first long distance call took place coving 14,000 miles of wires from Bell in New York to Watson in San Francisco.