You've seen how telecommunications changes our lives and our world.

	Local Message	Long Distance Message
Early to Mid-1800s	Runners Newspapers	U.S. to Europe--4-6 weeks Stage coach--20 days St. Louis to Sacramento Pony Express--10 days Telegraph (U.S.)--1-3 days
Late 1800s to Early 1900s	Operator assisted--several minutes	Operator assisted--several hours
Early 1900s to 1980	Direct dial from stationary phone--instant	Direct dial from stationary phone--usually instant
1980s to Now	Cell phones from anywhere--instant for written, spoken, video	Cell phones worldwide-- instant for written, spoken, video

Birth and Growth of Telecommunications

• 1843 - Samuel Morse invents telegraph
• 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell invents telephone
• 1879 - 1st Colorado telephone system
• 1889 -automatic dial system invented
• 1906 - 1st vacuum tube
• 1911 - long-distance phone service New York to Denver
• 1915 - coast-to-coast phone service established
• 1929 - 1st Colorado mechanical switch
• 1953 - 1st Colorado cable system built in Trinidad
• 1975 - Microsoft founded
• 1976 - 1st Apple computer comes to market
• 1979 - 1st nation-wide cell network built in Japan
• 1981 - Internet protocol adopted
• 1984 - Bell System breakup
• 1994 - VOIP phone service
• 1999 - 1st cable phone service trial
• 2002 - 1st text message
• 2004 - Facebook founded
• 2007 - iPhone invented

It's Happening Now
In April 2011 CenturyLink merged with Qwest to form the third-largest traditional telephone company in the nation. The 14 states served by Qwest are seeing changes as CenturyLink introduces itself to new customers. CenturyLink had been serving some rural areas of Colorado and now will serve urban areas as well.

What's Next?

Understanding the past helps us see the future.

Imagine inventing a new way for thoughts to fly.
You enjoy sharing your thoughts many different ways. Will you be the inventor who creates new ways for people to share their thoughts?

This exhibit created by:



We are a non-profit 501( c ) 3 headquartered in Denver with a branch in Seattle, WA. We hope the exhibit has helped you understand how telecommunications changes our lives and our world. We appreciate the support that Qwest, and its predecessor USWest, provided to our organization over the years. Learn more about us at: www.telcomhistory.org

Our thanks to the Western History Department of Denver Public Library for hosting this exhibit. We also thank the Cherry Creek Sprint Store for the display of an HTC EVO ShiftTM 4G and the Cable Center, AT&T Archives, and Roach Photo, Inc., for research support and photographs.

Thank you to the sponsors of this exhibit:

   

Click here for answers to the questions found throughout the exhibit!