For World Geography 1

By Katherine Powers
 The United States
The United States has been one of the most successful and
influential countries in the world when it comes to technology.

For example, an American named Samuel Morse invented the

single-wire telegraph in 1837 which eventually led to the
invention of the telephone; The first practical telephone was
invited by a Scottish man named Alexander Graham Bell. Bell
was Scottish, lived often in Canada, but taught, experimented
with his invention of the telephone and eventually successfully
“invented” it in Boston, Massachusetts in the later 1800s.

Years later, in 1908, the patent for the first wireless telephone
was given to a Kentucky man named Nathan B. Stubbfield. This
was the very beginning of the history of the modern cell phone.
 Communication in the U.S.
• Communication in the U.S. begins with Samuel Morse’s
invention of the telegraph in 1837.
• By the 1860s, telegraph offices were in nearly every
“important city”. Telegraphs allowed American’s to
communicate in a matter of minutes rather than days or
even weeks.
• In 1876, at the nation’s centennial expositions in
Philadelphia, Alexander Graham Bell presented the
telephone.
• By 1915, telephones were being used in many cities,
connecting people as far as the other side of the country.
• These days, nearly 90% of United States households have
telephones and there are many other ways of
communicating; such as the internet or satellite.
• The first regularly scheduled television service in the
United States began on July 2, 1928.
• It was not until 1947 that the first regularly-scheduled TV
programs began to appear.
• By 1942, there were 5,000 television sets in operation.
 Transportation in the U.S.
• In the 1800s, the fastest transportation was on water, not
land. Until the steam engine was used, people traveled
by riverboat and/or on canals (man-made waterways)
• 1850s, steamboats were finally commonly seen and
used for transportation.
• By 1869, steam-powered railroads linked the east and
west coasts and trains almost completely replaced the
steamboat.
• In the 1890s, the invention of the automobile brought
with it a newer, better way of transportation.
• By the 1950s, automobiles had significantly grown in
popularity and more and more people owned cars.
• More recently, the American automobile industry has
been struggling which can be blamed on a recent
financial crisis- among other things.
 Canada
In comparison to the United States, Canada hasn’t been quite
as influential in the world of transportation and communication
technology development.

Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, had a home

and family in Canada, but did most of his work in a rented
laboratory in the United States. Similarly, the inventor of FM
broadcasting was a Canadian man named Reginald Fessenden
who conducted many of his experiments in the U.S.

Between the 1920s and the 1950s, the world was obsessed
with automobiles. During that time, a Canadian named Joseph
Bombardier developed the snowmobile. Around then, a man
name Donald Higgs developed an early Walkie-talkie as well.
 Communication in Canada
• Sometime between 1880 and 1920, the telephone made
its entrance in Canada.
• The telephone system of the Bell Telephone Company of
Canada was established in 1880.
• By 1915, 7.6% of the population was using telephones.
• In Montreal in 1900, Emile Berliner, inventor of the
gramophone sound recording technique, established the
Berliner Gramophone Company and began to
manufacture the first phonograph records in Canada.
• In 1920, Montreal’s XWA became the first commercial
AM broadcaster in the world.
• Television was introduced to Canadians in 1952 with the
Canadian television channel CBT, originally introduced
in French and as CBFT.
 Transportation in Canada
• Early European settlers in Canada relied on canoes, kayaks and other
small boats.
• Through the 1800s to the early 1900s, the focus shifted to oxen-lead
wagons and canoes and sailboats were popular in the Maritime-type
transportation.
• Not until the later 1800s did Canada see steamships or railways.
• In 1862, locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway allowed transit of vessels.
• The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence
River. It’s often called Canada’s highway to the sea and is an important part
of Canada and its role in transportation. Nearly 60% of Canada’s population
lives in the region around the St. Lawrence Seaway.
• In 1963, the development of the Trans-Canada Highway in Canada
established ribbon development, truck stops, and industrial corridors along
throughways.
• There’s a total of 647,700 miles of road in Canada; 17,00 of which is made
up of highway.
• Roads and highways were managed by provincial authorities until
construction of the Northwest Highway System and the Trans-Canada
Highway project initiation in 1948.
• The Federal Department of Transport established November 2, 1936
supervised railways, canals, harbors, marine and shipping, civil aviation,
radio and meteorology.
• Compared to the United States, Canada is a lot more sea-oriented in terms
of transportation. There is a significantly less amount of drivers, highways
and airports in Canada then there are in the United States.
A History of Communication and Transportation in
the United States and Canada.
• In comparison to one another, over time, the United
States has been more of an influence on technology and
advancements in communication and transportation than
Canada has.
• Not to say Canada hasn’t had its influences.
Transportation-wise, Canada is a bigger influence on
Maritime travel than the U.S.
• While Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in
the United States, he was a Scottish man and lived
mainly in Canada.
• Things, on average, appeared (such as the television,
railroads, etc.) sooner in the U.S. than in Canada, but
Canada has had it’s fair share of firsts as well. Canada
did have the first commercially-broadcast AM radio
station.
 Sources.
• upload.cowikimedia.org
• en.wikipedia.org
• www.animatedatlas.com/
• www.collegesintheusa.com/
• www.shgresources.com/
• World Geography textbook.
• Online coursework from
http://highschool.unl.edu/.