The Higginson Transcontinental Telephone

1915

Shown is a photo of Henry L. Higginson, along with the telephone he used to place the first transcontinental telephone call to Thomas Watson in San Francisco on January 25, 1915. Also participating in the call were Alexander Graham Bell in New York, AT&T President Theodore Vail from Georgia, and President Wilson from the White House. Also shown is the vacuum tube that made the long distance line possible, a DeForest long-plate Audion.