Timeline Filter by: Decade or Famous Calls The Network The Business
Early tech | Electronics | Wireless | Digital | Operators | Cables and wires | Exchanges | Phreaking/Hacking | Dialing | Switching | Telegraph | Wired Tech | Office systems | Payphones | Data services | Line workers | Operations
Alec Reeves conceives of pulse code modulation
Alec Reeves
1937
Stibitz builds the 'Model K' relay adder (calculator) on his kitchen table
George Stibitz
1937
Transistor invented at Bell Labs
Transistor invented at Bell Labs
1947
Oliver, Pierce and Shannon co-author 'The Philosophy of PCM'
Bernard M. Oliver John R. Pierce Claude Shannon
1948
Shannon publishes A Mathematical Theory of Communication
Claude Shannon
1948
Transistors first used in telephone equipment
1953
Bell Labs scientists win Nobel Prize for the transistor
John Bardeen Walter Brattain William Shockley
1956
L2/Bell2 programming language launched
Richard Hamming Ruth A. Weiss
1956
T1 digital carrier system developed
1960
Tukey co-invents the Fast Fourier transform (FFT)
John Tukey
1965
Kao proves fiber optics can carry telephone signals
Charles K. Kao
1966
First 'plugless' digital operator stations (TSPS), in Morristown, NJ
First 'plugless' digital operator stations (TSPS), in Morristown, NJ
1969
Thompson and Ritchie develop the UNIX operating system
Brian Kernighan Dennis Ritchie Ken Thompson
1969
Hoover invents computerized call switching
Erna Schneider Hoover
1971
Bell Labs introduces the C programming language
Brian Kernighan Dennis Ritchie
1972
Metcalfe invents Ethernet
Robert Metcalfe
1973
Cerf and Kahn design TCP/IP
Vint Cerf Robert Kahn
1974
First digital switch (No. 4 ESS) deployed
First digital switch (No. 4 ESS) deployed
1976
Northern Telecom DMS-100 digital switch
1978
Bell Labs creates first single-chip digital signal processor (DSP)
1979
Siemens debuts digital telephone switching
1980
Minitel launches
Minitel launches
1980
Hayes launches the PC modem
Dennis Hayes
1981
UNIX: Making Computers Easier To Use (Bell Labs)
UNIX: Making Computers Easier To Use (Bell Labs)
1982
C++ programming language released
Bjarne Stroustrup
1985
Atal and Schroeder develop code-excited linear prediction algorithm
Bishnu S. Atal Manfred R. Schroeder
1985
TAT-8: First transatlantic fiber optic cable
1988
SS7 signaling becomes widespread
1991
VoIP demonstrated commercially by VocalTec Communications
1995
Croak pioneers Voice over IP at AT&T
Marian Croak
1998