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For some time context, the first New York to San Francisco telephone call was in 1915: “Six months later, amidst the celebrations surrounding the Panama–Pacifi

For some time context, the first New York to San Francisco telephone call was in 1915: “Six months later, amidst the celebrations surrounding the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, on January 25, 1915, Alexander Graham Bell, in New York City, repeated his famous statement "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you," into the telephone, which was heard by his assistant Dr. Watson in San Francisco, for a long distance call of 3,400 miles (5,500 km).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_transcontinental_telephone_call https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_transcontinental_telepho...

darkpuma 7y ago
I wonder if that was really the first call across that line, or just the 'official first.' I know if I was one of those technicians trying to make sure everything was ready to be demoed by the biggest celebrity in American telephony, I'd probably test it myself first to make sure I wasn't wasting Bell's time working the kinks out of the system.
- saalweachter 7y ago
  I also assume that as you're unspooling the line across the entire United States, you are also stopping every few miles and calling back to make sure the line is working.
- neilparikh 7y ago
  From the article: > A telephone call, which for marketing purposes is claimed to be the first transcontinental telephone call, occurred on January 25, 1915, a day timed to coincide with the Panama–Pacific International Exposition celebrations. However, the transcontinental telephone line was first completed on June 17, 1914, and successfully first voice tested in July 1914. A 1998 U.S. postage stamp commemorates the completion of the line in 1914.
SilasX 7y ago
And for some more context, Henry George remarked in Progress and Poverty (1879) that a banker in London could submit a trade order in London and have it executed (I assume by telegraph relays) in San Francisco that same morning (SF time). "could he have realized the enormous saving of labor resulting from ... the order given by the London banker in the afternoon executed in San Francisco in the morning of the same day;" https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/george-progress-and-poverty https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/george-progress-and-pover... (Please don't turn this subthread into a discussion of land value taxation.)
tomohawk 7y ago
For even more perspective, in 1916: > On May 14, 2nd Lt. George S. Patton raided the San Miguelito Ranch, near Rubio, Chihuahua. Patton, a Pershing aide and a future World War II general, was out looking to buy some corn from the Mexicans when he came across the ranch of Julio Cárdenas, an important leader in the Villista military organization. With fifteen men and three Dodge touring cars, Patton led America's first motorised military action, in which Cárdenas and two other men were shot dead. The young lieutenant then had the three Mexicans strapped to the hood of the cars and driven back to General Pershing's headquarters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition
valarauko 7y ago
>"Mr. Watson, come here. I want you," Old timey Grindr.

darkpuma 7y ago

I wonder if that was really the first call across that line, or just the 'official first.' I know if I was one of those technicians trying to make sure everything was ready to be demoed by the biggest celebrity in American telephony, I'd probably test it myself first to make sure I wasn't wasting Bell's time working the kinks out of the system.

saalweachter 7y ago
I also assume that as you're unspooling the line across the entire United States, you are also stopping every few miles and calling back to make sure the line is working.
neilparikh 7y ago
From the article: > A telephone call, which for marketing purposes is claimed to be the first transcontinental telephone call, occurred on January 25, 1915, a day timed to coincide with the Panama–Pacific International Exposition celebrations. However, the transcontinental telephone line was first completed on June 17, 1914, and successfully first voice tested in July 1914. A 1998 U.S. postage stamp commemorates the completion of the line in 1914.

SilasX 7y ago

And for some more context, Henry George remarked in Progress and Poverty (1879) that a banker in London could submit a trade order in London and have it executed (I assume by telegraph relays) in San Francisco that same morning (SF time). "could he have realized the enormous saving of labor resulting from ... the order given by the London banker in the afternoon executed in San Francisco in the morning of the same day;" https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/george-progress-and-poverty https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/george-progress-and-pover... (Please don't turn this subthread into a discussion of land value taxation.)

tomohawk 7y ago

For even more perspective, in 1916: > On May 14, 2nd Lt. George S. Patton raided the San Miguelito Ranch, near Rubio, Chihuahua. Patton, a Pershing aide and a future World War II general, was out looking to buy some corn from the Mexicans when he came across the ranch of Julio Cárdenas, an important leader in the Villista military organization. With fifteen men and three Dodge touring cars, Patton led America's first motorised military action, in which Cárdenas and two other men were shot dead. The young lieutenant then had the three Mexicans strapped to the hood of the cars and driven back to General Pershing's headquarters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition

valarauko 7y ago

>"Mr. Watson, come here. I want you," Old timey Grindr.