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It's January 25th, 1915, at the exchange of the American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation

in San Francisco. Inside, a room full of smartly dressed businessmen talk among themselves,

but when the clock strikes one o'clock, a hush of anticipation settles across the room.

A phone rings, and all eyes go to the building special guest, the co-inventor of the telephone,

Thomas Watson. Four decades ago, Thomas and his former employer, Alexander Graham Bell,

revolutionized communications with their invention to telephone.

Now, from opposite coasts, they're about to partake in another milestone by conducting the first

transcontinental phone call. Excited whispers fill the room as Thomas lifts the receiver

and holds it to his ear. At first, he hears nothing. Then there's a slight buzz followed by the

familiar soft Scottish accent of his former employee. A clause breaks out as Thomas confirms that

he can hear Alexander Graham Bell all the way across the country. When the applause dies down,

Thomas hears Bell say a sentence already burned into his memory. Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see

you. It's the same sentence that Bell chose to utter on their first successful telephone call

years ago, but today Thomas has a different response to it. With a chuckle, he replies,

I could, but this time it would take me a week to get to you. He smiles as Bell laughs on the

other end. Though they may be 3,400 miles apart, this moment feels just like that for two of

this day in Bell's attic when the pair conducted their first ever phone call. Except this time,

the stakes are far lower.

Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson's conversation during the first transcontinental call

...