Share, , Google Plus, Pinterest,

Print

Posted in:

This Week in Tech History: Birth of Google and First Female Telephone Operator

Google is one of the most well-known tech companies world-wide. Chris is back with This Week in Tech History to tell us about their humble beginnings, as well as the world's first female telephone operator.

Subscribe to our podcast!

This week in 1878 – Emma Nutt was recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to become the world’s first female telephone operator at the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company. At the time, to be an operator, a woman had to be unmarried and between the ages of 17 and 26. She had to look prim and proper, and have arms long enough to reach the top of the tall telephone switchboard.

In 1882 – Thomas Edison displayed the first practical electrical lighting system. The Pearl Street electric power station, Edison’s steam powered plant, began operating and successfully turned on the lights in a one square mile area of New York City. It was considered by many as the day that began the electrical age.

In 1887 this week – Emile Berliner filed for a patent for his invention of the lateral-cut, flat-disk gramophone. We know it better as the record player. Emile got the patent, but Thomas Edison got the notoriety for making it work.

IFA Banner Ad

This week in 1888 – George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak and received a patent for his camera that used roll film.

And this week in 1998 – Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University. Its mission statement from the outset was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Written by Chris Graveline

Chris has covered consumer technology for over 20 years. He is the host of This Week in Tech History as well as a regular co-host on "Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline" and our Technical Director.

1867 posts