Mondo Knows Facts
Almon Strowger patented the first automatic telephone exchange switch in 1891
Electromechanical rotary stepping switches allowed callers to dial numbers without human operators
Kansas undertaker Almon Strowger invented the electromechanical rotary switch in 1889 after suspecting telephone operators were diverting business calls to a rival undertaker. His patented stepping switch responded directly to pulses generated by rotary telephone dials. The Strowger switch automated telephone exchanges globally for nearly a century before digital electronic switching.
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Tags: telecoms, switching, telephone
Almon Strowger patented the first automatic telephone exchange switch in 1891: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Electromechanical rotary stepping switches allowed callers to dial numbers without human operators. The figure is taken from IEEE History Center, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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