February 21: On This Day in World History … briefly
In 2012, after some North American cities passed laws banning the distribution of telephone books, an industry group sued and obtained a court ruling permitting the distribution to continue.
1878: First-ever telephone directory is issued
The first telephone directory, consisting of a single piece of cardboard, was issued on February 21, 1878; it listed 50 individuals, businesses and other offices in New Haven, Connecticut, that had telephones. The first British telephone directory was published on 15 January 1880 by The Telephone Company. It contained 248 names and addresses of individuals and businesses in London; telephone numbers were not used at the time as subscribers were asked for by name at the exchange. The directory is preserved as part of the British phone book collection by BT Archives.
In 1938, AT&T commissioned the creation of a new type font, known as ‘Bell Gothic’, to ensure legibility at very small font sizes when printed on newsprint where small imperfections were common. In 1981 France was the first country to have an electronic directory on a system called Minitel – called ’11’ after its telephone access number. In 1991 the US Supreme Court ruled that telephone companies do not have a copyright on telephone listings, because copyright protects creativity and not the mere labour of collecting existing information.
In the 21st century, printed telephone directories are increasingly criticised as waste. Manufacture and distribution of telephone directories produces over 1 400 000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and consumes over 600 000 tons of paper annually.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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