Timelines of Milestones in Communications History, Pre-1900

1837

Cooke and Wheatstone obtain a patent on telegraph. Morse publicly demonstrates his telegraph.

1844

Morse's first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore opens in May.

1865

Maxwell mathematically predicts the propagation of electromagnetic waves through space.

1866

Uninterrupted transatlantic communications are established with the successful laying of the first telegraph cable on 27 July.

1876

Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray independently invent the telephone. Bell awarded priority.

1884

AIEE formed with Norvin Green, president of Western Union, as first President.

1887

Heinrich Hertz shows that electromagnetic waves exist.

References:

• Engineers & Electrons, John D. Ryder and Donald G. Fink, IEEE Press, 1984
• Events in Telecommunications History, AT&T Archives, 1992
• The Story of Telecommunications, George P. Oslin, Mercer University Press, 1992.
• Inventing The Internet, Janet Abbate, The MIT Press, 1999.