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History Daily

Alexander Graham Bell Makes the First Telephone Call

History Daily

History Daily

History

4.42.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

March 10, 1876. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call in history, revolutionizing human communication. This episode originally aired in 2023.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.5

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0:31.8

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

0:39.1

Inside, a room full of smartly dressed businessmen talk among themselves, but when the clock strikes one o'clock,

0:41.8

a hush of anticipation settles across the room.

0:46.9

A phone rings, and all eyes go to the building's special guest,

0:49.9

the co-inventor of the telephone, Thomas Watson.

0:55.1

Four decades ago, Thomas and his former employer, Alexander Graham Bell, revolutionized communications with their invention to telephone.

0:59.0

Now, from opposite coasts, they're about to partake in another milestone

1:03.6

by conducting the first transcontinental phone call.

1:07.0

Excited whispers fill the room as Thomas lifts the receiver and holds it to his ear.

1:12.8

At first, he hears nothing.

1:15.2

Then there's a slight buzz, followed by the familiar, soft Scottish accent of his former employer.

1:22.1

Applaus breaks out as Thomas confirms that he can hear Alexander Grand Bell all the way across the country.

1:29.2

When the applause dies down, Thomas hears Bell say a sentence already burned into his memory.

1:35.0

Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you. It's the same sentence that Bell chose to utter on their first

1:41.3

successful telephone call years ago.

1:46.6

But today, Thomas has a different response to it.

1:52.5

With a chuckle, he replies, I could, but this time it would take me a week to get to you.

1:55.3

He smiles as Bell laughs on the other end.

...

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