This day in history: Alexander Graham Bell makes first telephone call
(CBS DETROIT) - On March 10, 1876, the world's first telephone call was made.
Graham was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1847 and went on to become an expert in sound and public speaking, according to America's Library.
Using his sound skills, he created the telephone and made the first call in 1876. He called Thomas Watson, his assistant, and said, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you."
According to America's Library, after making that first call, he wrote to his father and discussed how in the future, people could communicate without even leaving their homes.
After creating the telephone, Bell developed other inventions, including creating the photophone in 1880.
"This first wireless telephone transmitted sound on a beam of light instead of electrical wires," according to America's Library. "It is the forefather of the cordless phone and 80% of today's telephone systems that use fiber optics."
Graham's inventions have allowed for communication to continue to expand.
He repeated his famous first phone during the formal opening of the transcontinental telephone lines that connected the East and West coasts of the United States. Bell was in New York and said, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you," and Watson replied that it would take him a week because he was in San Francisco.
