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U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 25: First Transcontinental Phone CallWASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL PHONE CALL Profile America — Wednesday, January 25th. On this date in 1915, east and west were linked by voice in the first transcontinental phone call. This event was a conference call involving Alexander Graham Bell in New York, his assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, and the president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in Georgia. Using the new commercial service was a major financial commitment. The charge for a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco started at $20.70. That's nearly $495 today. Nearly 98 perent of America's households have phone service. Landline and cellular services combined cost these households an average of $1,347 per year. The cellular service cost alone is $1,023. Profile America is in its 20th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. Sources: Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-january-25-first-transcontinental-phone-call-300390766.html SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau 
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