Today in History

Today, in 1963, the first push button telephone was put into service by Bell System.

“Though push-button touch-tone phones made their debut to the general public in 1963, the older rotary dial telephone still was common for many years. In the 1970s, the majority of phone users still had rotary phones.

Adoption of the push-button phone was steady, but it took a long time for them to appear in some areas. At first it was primarily businesses that adopted push-button phones. By 1979, the touch-tone phone was gaining popularity, but it wasn't until the 1980s that the majority of customers owned push-button telephones in their homes; by the 1990s, it was the overwhelming majority.”

Can you imagine what life would be like if we still only had push button phones?  I definitely wouldn’t be able to answer calls while doing laundry in the basement!