History Today: How phones went from rotary dial to push buttons

A revolution in telecommunication history occurred on November 18, 1963, with the use of push-button telephones. Introduced by the Bell System, these new phones replaced the rotary dial mechanism and laid the foundation for automated systems such as voicemail, phone banking, and customer service menus. On this day in 1978, mass suicides occurred in Jonestown, a remote settlement in Guyana. More than 900 adults and children drank a cyanide-laced beverage termed a revolutionary suicide

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