early 12c., one of the ecclesiastical princes who constitute the sacred college (short for cardinalis ecclesiae Romanae or episcopus cardinalis), from Latin cardinalis principal, chief, essential (see cardinal (adj.)). Ecclesiastical use began for the presbyters of the chief (cardinal) churches of Rome.
In 1889, the rotary telephone dial was invented by Almon B. Strowger , a Kansas City undertaker. The first dial exchange was installed at La Porte, Indiana, in 1892. In 1943, Philadelphia was the last major area to give up dual service.
Until the 1970s, when push button tone dial was introduced, rotary phones were the only viable option for user controlled phones. By the 1980s, most rotary phones were phased out.In many areas, it is now an added feature to have rotary service.pecifications. The standard form of the rotary dial is a disk three inches in diameter with 10 holes, numbered in one of four forms 1-9 then 0, 0-9, 9-0 or 0 then 9-1. Despite the different numberings, when the first number was dialed, 1 pulse was sent and when the last number was dialed, 10 pulses.