Bell Telephone / AT&T
Organized by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard on the strength of Bell's telephone patent.
Founded1877
HeadquartersBoston, MA
IndustryTelecommunications
Alexander Graham Bell opening the first transcontinental telephone line, January 25, 1915 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Overview
It evolved into American Bell and then AT&T, becoming the “Ma Bell” telecommunications monopoly for over a century.
Founders
Gardiner Greene Hubbard and Alexander Graham Bell
Organized July 9, 1877
Landmark Achievements
- Commercialized the telephone, opening the first commercial exchange in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1878.
- Built the first transcontinental telephone network; AT&T's Bell Labs later produced the transistor (1947), the laser, Unix, and multiple Nobel Prizes.
- Became the largest telecommunications company in the world before its 1984 antitrust breakup into the “Baby Bells.”
Bell Telephone / AT&T's place in the story
Continue through the chronicle — the builders of American technology, in founding order.