Cell phones, also known as mobiles phones, are an important part of our lives.Most people have in their hands some version of a smartphone or at least a feature phone. These cell phones can be used to do a multitude of things.But have you ever wondered how these amazing devices came into existence? The history of cell phones or rather hand-held wireless phones is really interesting. But before that, let us begin by telling you what exactly a cell phone is. A cell phone is known by many names. The most popular ones are cell phones and mobile phones. But they are also called by other names like handphone, cellular phone, or sometimes just cell or mobile. They are basically portable telephones that use radio frequency links to make or receive calls while the user of the device is in a telephone service area. The cellular network architecture used in modern mobile phones has earned them the name of cellular phones or cell phones in America. But nowadays, these mobile devices are not only used to make or receive calls, but they can do a vast array of things. Starting from text messages, photography, editing, videography, Bluetooth connectivity, and most importantly, you can have access to the internet in the palm of your hands. There are millions of mobile users in the world and these constantly evolving devices are becoming more capable as time passes. So much so, that most of you are probably reading this article on your mobile phones. But today, let’s go back to the starting line and take a look at the beginning of one of the most era-defining products of all times - the cell phone.If you like this article and want to read more fun facts like this, then please check out what is magnetism and what is an aurora.Invention History Of Cell PhoneEverything has a beginning, so let us look at the beginning of the cell phone or the wireless telephone.As many of you would know, the first working phone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in the year 1876. But the invention history of the first mobile phone is very interesting as well. Reginald Fessenden was the first-ever person to make the first wireless phone call through a device that he made on December 23, 1900. Through radio waves, he was able to transmit human voices. His groundbreaking invention made way for not only broadcasting radio but also ultimately led to the invention of the cell phone. Inspired by the work of Fessenden, a young engineer working in the Bell Laboratories or Bell Labs under D.H Ring called William Rae Young pointed out that if the radio waves were to be arranged in a hexagonal pattern then they would be able to support a telephone network. In theory, this would enable the user to be able to move from one network area to the other and still be able to continue the call. But in reality, the technology that could bring this vision to life was not quite there yet. The AT&T company offered their customers a chance to use some radio-telephones. But they were more like walkie-talkies and not many calls could be made using these devices. They were also not suitable for private calls, so the scope of them taking off was pretty low. AT&T asked the Federal Communications Commission or FCC to build a cellular network. But then the real fun began. The Bell Labs’ rival company Motorola’s Martin Cooper and team designed the first mobile phone or the first cell phone. This phone was named Motorola DynaTAC and it was 9 in (22.9 cm) long and weighed about 2.42 lb (1.1 kg). It was practically a behemoth and is affectionately known as ‘The Brick’. The first call through this phone was made by Cooper to tease his rival at the Bell Laboratories called Joel Engel. The history was made on April 3, 1973, when Cooper and the team were able to successfully make the world’s first cell phone and change the history of mankind.But even though they were the first ones to make the proper predecessor of what we now know as the handheld mobile phone, the groundwork was laid for them through tremendous research and engineering by many before them. Fessenden, Young, and even AT&T, who build two-way radio communications that helped emergency services and taxi drivers to be able to communicate properly laid the groundwork for researchers of the future. The cellphone was not made by one man, neither was it made overnight. It was the cumulative effort of decades and many dedicated researchers that led to the phenomenal results.When were cell phones invented in America?As we discussed, officially the first cell phone was invented by Martin Cooper and the team who worked at Motorola, an American Company. But let’s take a look at how mobile phones in America have changed through the years.We already mentioned that building a mobile telephone started from before the time of the First World War and continued well until after Second World War and finally became a reality in 1973 when the world’s first handheld mobile phone was invented. But that behemoth of a phone weighed over a kilogram and had a visible external antenna. It is unfathomable for us with our smartphones in our hands, that merely a few decades ago, mobile phone calls could only last for 30 minutes and to achieve that, the phone needed to be charged for 10 hours! So let us take a look at the mobile phone history of America.Even though the first handheld mobile telephone was invented and used in the year 1973, it wasn’t until 1983 when mobile phones actually hit the market. The first analog cellular system deployed in the USA came was the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and was commercially presented in the country on October 13, 1983. However, similar technologies were first used in car phones in Tokyo in 1979 and soon after, throughout the rest of Japan. AMPS was introduced to Israel in 1986 and in Australia in 1987. Even though this was a groundbreaking technology that revolutionized, communication it was still far behind by today’s standards. They were unencrypted and anybody could listen in on the calls using a scanner. In 1983, the first DynaTAC 8000X was launched in the US. The mobile phone call would only last for about 30 minutes and the phones needed to be charged for about 10 hours to even be able to do that. This was the first generation of cellular phones in mobile phone history and thus was called 1G. The second generation came about in the ’90s and the connectivity was called 2G. This era was revolutionary in many fields as this era also saw the birth of prepaid mobile phones. The rest was history as we all know. After this groundbreaking work in the ’90s, the last three decades have had tremendous changes in the field of mobile phones to reach where we have smartphones that can do just about anything one may ask for. Mobile phone technology has gone through many changes in shapes, sizes, and functions since the first cell phone to reach the touch screen devices that we love so much.When were hand-held cell phones invented?As we previously talked about, the first handheld mobile phone was invented in the year 1973 and finally reached the market as a product for common use in the year 1983.But you might now be wondering about the journey these phones had to go through in the last three to four decades or so to reach what they are today. So let us take a look at the brief history of mobile phones, especially smartphones. One of the most distinct features that set mobile phones apart from normal telephones other than them being wireless is the fact that mobile phones can be used to send text messages to other users. The first text message was sent by Neil Papworth on December 3, 1992. And a year later Nokia introduced this feature on their subsequent mobile phones. Now people could send each other text messages via their cell phones even though they had a 160 character limit. Back then, all mobile phones were feature phones. Meaning they were keypad phones which could do very limited things. One of the most fun additions to the cellphone market was the flip phones. Flip phones were very popular in the ’90s and 2000s. The first flip phone was released by Motorola and was called the StarTAC. The first camera phone that was commercially released was a phone called Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210 and it was first released in Japan in the May of 1999. The first Nokia phone to have a built-in camera was the Nokia 7650. It was a sliding phone and was hugely popular. The camera phone became very popular all across the world. The first phone with a qwerty keyboard was the Motorola Accompli 009. It was a tri-band GSM phone and was made to look like a laptop keyboard. These qwerty keypad phones along with the flip phones were hugely popular before the appearance of the touch screen phones. The first touchscreen phone or the World’s first smartphone was the IBM Simon that came out in 1992. It was very large in size but was touch screen and had email, a calculator, and worked on networks. Along with the appearance of camera phones, the pinnacle of sophistication was achieved through the appearance of the first iPhone from Apple in the year 2007. Since then, they never had to look back even to this day. The first android phone which was commercially available was the HTC Dream which came out in 2008 and paved the way for all android mobile phones to come.Effect Of Cell Phone On WorldWith this fascinating history out of the way, now we can talk about smartphones that everyone uses and their effects on the world.As you all already know, smartphones are an integral part of our society and life today. It is not merely a phone to make calls or send SMS messages but can do so much more. You can do photography and editing on these new phones. You can play amazing games quite smoothly. Web browsing is only a tap away if you have an internet connection thanks to these devices. The first phones were only used to make telephone calls. But after the invention of smartphones, especially the first iPhone, modern mobiles have achieved new heights of cutting edge technology. You get a long battery life that will last you a whole day after one full charge. At the same time, you get to experience the world through this small screen in your palms. It is easy to say that most of us would be lost without our smartphones. Which is amazing and terrifying at the same time. Every invention brings with it some blessings and some curses and it is also true for mobile phones. We can communicate with anybody in any corner of the world with the help of social media. But it has also detached us from the realities of life. This is not a smartphone-only problem, but cyber crimes have also taken a hike with the growing fascination over the internet. Every child nowadays is obsessed with screens and not interested in the real world all that much. On the other hand, even with all the negatives, we cannot forget that with the help of these devices many people were able to still continue their work and studies even during a pandemic. The device is in many ways, a blessing to the world. But how we choose to use it is completely up to us.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for when were cell phones invented? Here’s all you need to know!, then why not take a look at know the architect of the Eiffel Tower: facts on the tallest structure or Ariel Moon facts: curious details on one of the five moons of Uranus?

Cell phones, also known as mobiles phones, are an important part of our lives.