The Telephone is patented and the world’s first virtual wedding occurs. All on today’s On This Day from TEST Huddle.
1888 – The Telephone is patented
In the U.S, Thomas Edison is issued patent No. 278,044 for a “Telephone-Transmitter”, the earliest version of the telephone.
1983 – The World’s First Virtual Wedding
In Grand Praire, Texas George Stickel (29) and Debbie Fuhrman (23) exchange wedding vows on a computer terminal using CompuServe’s CB simulator, the first internet chat service. In total sixty-six wedding guests from across the country attend the online event, including the bride’s parents in Phoenix, Arizona and sister, who was online at a Radio Shack store in Sacramento, California. The overseer of the cermony Reverend Kim Payton, stands at one terminal, while Debbie and Mike stand across from him at their own terminal. Upon receiving the question, “Do you, Debbie, take Mike to be your lawful husband?”, Debbie types in “I will” and the screen flashes “(((((((KISS)))))))”. The screen then erupts in a shower of apostrophes to represent rice, and the bride’s mother types in “Sniff.”
