Ringing Through Telephone Trivia

By Paula Green

Let’s face it, cell phones have invaded our daily lives. We call, text, snap photos, FaceTime, and navigate, all powered by our phones. None of this would exist if Alexander Graham Bell hadn’t unveiled his groundbreaking invention. This month marks the 150th anniversary of Bell’s major achievement.

On March 7, 1876, Bell was granted his patent for the telephone. Three days later, he made the first-ever telephone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson. Bell uttered the famous phrase, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.”

Building on this initial feat, within a few months, Bell was able to demonstrate conversations not just over a few yards but over a few miles. This time, the phone call took place between Boston, Massachusetts, and the suburb of Somerville. 

The telephone’s success quickly led to the formation of the Bell Telephone Company in 1877. By 1915, Bell made the first transcontinental call from New York to San Francisco, bringing long-distance conversations to life. None of these connections would work without the original technology whizzes: the "hello girls." Armed with switchboards, wires, and plugs everywhere, these operators turned phone chaos into order, zapping connections across miles in miraculous time.

Phones were the new craze, and soon, the early 1900s gave us the iconic phone booth. These little cubicles popped up everywhere, like magic portals for a quick chat when inspiration (or gossip) struck. Got a dime? Then, you have the world at your fingertips.

Technology kept growing. By the 1920s, rotary dials let people spin their way through calls, and in the 1960s, push-button phones made life faster. Dialing numbers: now with less finger acrobatics. 

The world got a glimpse of a mobile future in 1973 when Motorola introduced the first handheld phone prototype. In 1992, Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old software programmer, sent the first-ever text message from a computer to his colleague. He had been working as a developer and test engineer to create a Short Message Service (SMS) for his client, Vodafone. That first text, sent on December 3, 1992, simply said, “Merry Christmas.”

The turn of the millennium brought smartphones, combining a phone, camera, web browser, and personal assistant. Today, as we interact with our smartphones daily, we should seize the moment to celebrate the journey from Bell’s original spark to the infinite ways we connect now.

Since we’ve explored the history of the telephone, let’s see if these questions ring a bell. Get set to don your thinking caps, because it’s time to get a little trivial.

  1. In this film, a boy befriends a stranded alien who is forever trying to “phone home” and call back his ship.

2. Name the princess who starred in the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic Dial M for Murder.

3. The Lady Gaga song “Telephone” also features this famed female songstress.

4. In this hit tune, Jim Croce sings the lyrics, “Can you help me place this call?”

5. This smartphone was initially known as “Research in Motion.”

6. Name the 1979 comedy film where Navin Johnson, portrayed by Steve Martin, excitedly 

    yells, “The new phone book is here!”

7. Which cell phone company uses the slogan, “Can you hear me now?”

8. This multi-instrumental English rock band sings the hit tune “Telephone Line.”

9. Which actress portrayed Ernestine, the telephone operator, in the TV comedy show 

     Laugh-In?

10. In this TV 60s-70s sitcom, a farm couple didn’t have a phone in their home. Every time

they made a call; they had to climb a telephone pole in their yard.

 11. Name the rock band that sings the tune “Love on the Telephone.”

 12. In the animated TV show The Simpsons, Bart loves to make prank phone calls to this

        establishment.

 13. What are the digital pictures called that are used in text messaging?

 14. The name Bell Telephone eventually transitioned over to this mobile phone giant.

 15. What device was announced in 2007 with the following slogan? "This is only the

beginning."

Answers: 1. E.T. 2. Grace Kelly 3. Beyoncé 4. Operator 5. BlackBerry 6. The Jerk 7. Verizon 8. Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) 9. Lily Tomlin 10. Green Acres 11. Foreigner 12. Moe’s Tavern

13. emojis 14. AT&T 15. IPhone