[Amazing] 25 Crazy Things You May Not Realize About Telephones
It was 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish immigrant to the United States, was granted a patent for a device that intelligibly managed to replicate and relay the human voice via electronic signals. Overtime, phones evolved and today they have come to be among the most used small appliances in the world. In fact, most countries have more phones than people (yes, even India). Although phones were initially connected directly to each other, this system was eventually replaced by having central switching centers. And as you already known, today cell phones have become the norm. In fact, most cell phones are just mini computers. But those computers are a lot more powerful than you probably even realized. For example, your phone’s computational power is greater than that of the entire Apollo Space Program. That’s right, NASA could have easily used your phone to land on the moon. But enough of the fun facts, there will be a lot more of those to come. And once you get done with this list you’re going to have a much bigger appreciation of that little device in your pocket. These are 25 Crazy Things You May Not Realize About Telephones!
Featured Image: pixabay
Mexican drug cartels are capturing engineers and forcing them to build a private phone network
Source: wired.com, Image: wikipedia
Nokia has been developing a way to harness radio waves that would re-charge your phone while it is on standby
Source: theguardian.com, Image: wikipedia
Although Mother's Day is the overall busiest day for phone calls, Father's Day is the busiest day for collect calls.
Source: businessweek.com, Image: wikipedia
Nomophobia is the fear of not having a phone
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
In spite of the fact that iPhones get a lot of media attention, Android has more than 80% market share
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
The term "cell phone" (cellular phone) is derived from the fact that the areas served by towers are divided into cells. It was first used in 1977.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
In 2011, a boy in Norway escaped a wolf attack by playing a heavy metal song on his phone
Source: bizzarenews.org, Image: wikipedia
In 2012, the FBI had to ask Google for help in unlocking a pimp's cell phone because his pattern lock was so sophisticated.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Cellphones don't actually affect the operation of airplanes. The main reason the FCC doesn't want phones being used in flight is because the signal bounces off numerous towers and can potentially clog up the network
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
In 1971, hacker John Draper used a whistle he got from a Cap'n Crunch box to hack AT&T (phone phreaking). He then placed a bunch of long distance phone calls for free.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Hacker Kevin Mitnick spent the first part of his sentence in solitary confinement because the prosecution convinced the judge that he could start a nuclear war by whistling into a telephone
Source: news.cnet.com, Image: wikipedia
One ton of trashed cell phones contains more gold than 60 tons of actual gold ore
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Carlton Rich was in jail when he called his girlfriend. She then called the prison on another phone which allow Carlton to impersonate an official giving himself a release order (by holding the phones together). Carlton was released but then re-arrested 3 days later.
Source: cracked.com, Image: wikipedia
Solenne San Jose of France, received a phone bill for more than 11 quadrillion Euros. That's more than 150 times the GDP of the entire world. The company first offered to let her pay in installments but then admitted their mistake.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
The fastest texter in the world is Sonja Kristiansen of Norway. She sent this message in 37.28 seconds - "“The razor-toothed piranhas of the general Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality, they seldom attack a human.”
Source: Guinness Book Of World Records, Image: wikipedia
In 1996, when the Malaysian government was investigating a spree of cell phone thefts, they discovered that fisherman were using them as bait. Apparently they used them to produce a high pitched sound in the water that attracted the fish
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
IBM released a touch phone with email capabilities...in 1993 (IBM Simon)
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
112 is the most common international emergency number. In most countries it will redirect you to the local emergency services.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, ejected from his capsule on re-entry, parachuted several miles back to Earth, and asked a local farmer to borrow his phone so that he could call Moscow.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
In 2013, more than 9 trillion texts were sent. That is about 1,200 text messages for every person on Earth
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, first owned the number 888-888-8888. He got rid of it soon after though, mainly because he kept getting wrong number calls (mostly from babies just messing around with the phone)
Source: wikipedia, Image: pixabay
The Washington-Moscow hotline aka The Red Phone was a direct link that was built between the Pentagon and the Kremlin in the early 60s. It was meant to enable faster communication and help avert nuclear war due to miscommunication.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Google updates its live traffic feeds by tracking data from the GPS of Android phones around the world.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
If your phones GPS determines that it is traveling at more than 1,200 mph at an altitude higher than 60,000 feet it is required by law to turn itself off. This is known as the COCOM limit and is intended to prevent GPS from being used to guide intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Most phones sold in Japan are waterproof because Japanese teenagers even use them in the shower.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
