Telephone trivia! Test your skills against real telephone facts.

Here’s everything you never knew you always wanted to know about the telephone. How many questions can you answer correctly?

1. What greeting was first used when answering the telephone?

1. Speak!
2. Hello!
3. Ahoy!
4. At your service!

2. What is one of the most common ways to disguise cell phone towers?

1. It’s illegal to disguise them.
2. As plastic trees.
3. Attached to the structure of tall buildings.
4. Behind highway beautification walls.

3. What is telephonophobia?

1. A fear of cell phones.
2. It’s not a real word.
3. A fear of making and receiving calls.
4. A fear of hearing the phone ring.

4. A recent U.N. study found that of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones – but only 4.5 billion people have access to this.

1. Working toilets.
2. Running water.
3. Electricity.
4. Proper nutrition.

5. The original cell phone, first demonstrated in 1973, weighed how many pounds?

1. 5 pounds
2. 5 pounds
3. 2 pounds
4. 3 pounds

6. In a 2012 poll by TIME magazine, what percentage of people said they can’t go a day without their cell phones?

1. 92%
2. 73%
3. 49%
4. 84%

7. What numerals on the telephone do not have corresponding letters?

1. 1
2. 9 and 0
3. 0
4. 1 and 0

8. What letters did old rotary phones not use?

1. Q and W
2. Y and Z
3. Q and Z
4. X and Z

9. The first universal emergency number was established in Great Britain in 1937. To receive police, fire or ambulance assistance, an individual would dial which numbers?

1. 999
2. 900
3. 911
4. 000

10. What were the first words ever spoken on the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell?

1. “Mr. Holmes – come here – I need you.”
2. “Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.”
3. “Mr. Wilson – come here – you are needed.”
4. “Mr. Henry – come here – your assistance is requested.”

Answers: 1. C, 2. B, 3. C, 4. A, 5. B, 6. D, 7. D, 8. C, 9. A, 10. B