History, Profile America, Technology

Profile America: First Transcontinental Phone Call

January 25, 2018 5:59 PM·

The first transcontinental phone call occurred on January 25, 1915.

Thursday, January 25th. On this date in 1915, east and west were linked by voice in the first transcontinental phone call. This event was a conference call involving Alexander Graham Bell in New York, his assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, and the president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in Georgia.

Using the new commercial service was a major financial commitment. The charge for a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco started at $20.70. That’s over $503 today. Nearly 98 percent of America’s households have phone service. Landline and cellular services combined cost these households an average of $1,431 per year. The cellular service cost alone is $1,124.

You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey here.

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Author: Michael Benjamin is a public affairs consultant and an editorial board member at The New York Post. He is a former contributing columnist to the NY Post, City and State NY and other publications. He is a former Member of the New York State Assembly (2003-2010) and once led the Bronx Board of Elections. Since leaving office, he has appeared as a commentator on TWC NY1, Bronxnet OPEN, Good Day NY, and Al Jazeera America. His columns and blog focus on corruption, government, education, politics, redistricting, nuclear energy and race. He holds a B.A. in political science from Syracuse University.