National Telephone Day: first cell phone call made in NYC

Tuesday, April 25, marks National Telephone Day.  With the cellular phone replacing the landline in many homes, check out these facts about the first handheld cellular phone and its connection to New York City.

Martin Cooper, chairman and CEO of ArrayComm, invented the Motorola DynaTAC, a 1973 prototype of the first handheld cellular telephone.

"The Brick" was 10 inches long and weighed more than two pounds. In comparison, an Apple iPhone 7 weighs less than five ounces.

It cost nearly $4,000 to buy in 1984.

According to The Atlantic, on April 3, 1973, Cooper stood near a 900 MHz base station on Sixth Avenue, between 53rd and 54th Streets, in New York City and placed a call to the headquarters of Bell Labs in New Jersey.

"I'm ringing you just to see if my call sounds good at your end,' or something to that effect," Cooper reportedly said.

Today, 95% of Americans own a cell phone, according to Pew Research Center.