From rotary dial to hands-free, we celebrate National Telephone Day
WASHINGTON - Tuesday is National Telephone Day-- and you'd better celebrate, because we all know it's the one thing we would be lost without. Literally.
Here are a few little-known facts about the history of telephones that we bet you didn't know, thanks to internet-based communications hub Ooma:
1968: The first 911 call
It happened much later than you might have thought. The first 911 call was made in Haleyville, Alabama, by a U.S. senator!
1984: The first cell phone debuts
Move over, rotary. Phones got a whole lot cooler-- and portable-- in 1984, which isn't bad considering cordless phones were still on the new side back then. But think again if you think the first cell phone looked anything like your iPhone!
First cell phone price tag? $4,000
How's that new iPhone 7 Plus looking now? The very first cell phone cost a pretty penny-- and it also weighed in at 1.75 pounds. That's a lot considering the iPhone 7 weighs 4.87 ounces.
2004: Phones got smart
That's the year Blackberry added full web-browsing capabilities to its line of mobile devices. Ahhh, Blackberry. Remember those days?
2013: Smartphones > dumb phones
In less than 10 years, smartphones took over the entire market. All of it. Pretty smart, huh?