 "History Today: How phones went from rotary dial to push buttons")
Telephones, invented by Alexander Graham Bell, have been around for a long time. While the first telephone consisted of a rotary dial, the push-button telephones are considered to be a revolutionary change. These push-button telephones were used for the first time in the United States on November 18, 1963.
If you are a history geek who loves to learn about important events from the past, Firstpost Explainers’ ongoing series, History Today will be your one-stop destination to explore key events.
On this day in 1978, the world witnessed one of the most shocking tragedies of the 20th century: the mass suicides and murders at Jonestown, a remote settlement in the South American nation of Guyana.
Here is all that took place on this day across the world.
Push-button phones were used for the first time
Push-button telephones were used for the first time in the United States on November 18, 1963. Introduced by the Bell System, these new phones replaced the rotary dial mechanism that had dominated telephone technology for decades. The rollout began in Carnegie and Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where customers became the first in the world to experience the convenience and speed of touch-tone dialling.
The innovation centred on a dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) system, which used specific sound frequencies to signal digits to telephone exchanges. This was a significant advancement over rotary phones, which relied on mechanical pulses. With push-button phones, calls could be connected more quickly and accurately, laying the foundation for automated systems such as voicemail, phone banking, and customer service menus.
The first touch-tone phone models featured ten buttons arranged in a 3×3 grid with a zero at the bottom, replacing the circular dial familiar to earlier generations. The design was modern, compact, and marketed as futuristic. Bell Telephone launched extensive advertising campaigns emphasising speed and ease of use, presenting the push-button phone as a symbol of an increasingly fast-paced and technologically advanced society.
While the new phones were initially available only as a premium service, adoption grew steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The refined 12-key keypad, including the * and # symbols, was later introduced and became the standard format still used in phones, ATMs, and digital interfaces around the world.
Mass suicides in Jonestown
In one of the most shocking incidents that the world witnessed in a long time, mass suicides occurred in Jonestown, a remote settlement in Guyana, on this day in 1978. The suicides were led by Jim Jones, founder of the Peoples Temple.
The roots of the tragedy lay in Jones’s increasing paranoia, authoritarian control, and manipulation. After facing media scrutiny in the United States over allegations of abuse and misconduct, Jones moved his followers to Guyana, promoting Jonestown as a utopian refuge. However, conditions deteriorated rapidly. Members worked long hours, faced food shortages, endured isolation, and were subjected to constant surveillance. Loyalty tests and ‘suicide drills’ became part of daily life, further tightening Jones’s psychological grip.
The crisis reached its breaking point when US Congressman Leo Ryan travelled to Jonestown to investigate claims of mistreatment. On November 17, a number of residents expressed their desire to leave with him. The next day, as Ryan and his group prepared to depart from a nearby airstrip, armed Temple members opened fire, killing Ryan and four others. This attack set off the final sequence of events back in Jonestown.
Under Jones’s orders, residents gathered in the pavilion where a toxic mixture containing cyanide was distributed. Many were coerced, others forced, and some willingly followed Jones’s command. The phrase “revolutionary suicide,” coined by Jones, became tragically literal as entire families perished. Jim Jones himself died from a gunshot wound, likely self-inflicted.
This Day, That Year
John Christian Watson, the first Labor prime minister of Australia, died in Sydney in 1941.
In 1928, Walt Disney released Steamboat Willie, the first animated film with sound to feature Mickey Mouse.
Prince Charles of Denmark was elected king of Norway as Haakon VII in 1905.
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