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telegraph
Developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel Morse
It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. -
computer
The first computer that resembled the modern machines we see today was invented by Charles Babbage between 1833 and 1871. He developed a device, the analytical engine, and worked on it for nearly 40 years -
telephone
Alexander Graham Bell had sought a way to transmit speech electronically. He invented the telephone in March 1876 -
radio
Around the start of the 20th century, the Slaby-Arco wireless system was developed by Adolf Slaby and Georg von Arco. In 1900, Reginald Fessenden made a weak transmission of voice over the airwaves. In 1901, Marconi conducted the first successful transatlantic experimental radio communications. -
television
The world's first television stations first started appearing in America in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The first mechanical TV station was called W3XK and was created by Charles Francis Jenkins -
mobile phone
On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive, made the first mobile telephone call from handheld subscriber equipment, placing a call to Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, his rival. -
tablet
In 1989, Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm Computing, created the GridPad. Some call this the first tablet computer. It ran MS-DOS and the military bought a few but consumers mostly ignored it