Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America government officials balked at returning the American Marconi stations to the original owners, distrusting British control of radio communication due to national security concerns. Lead by the U.S. Navy, the government pressured the Marconi companies to transfer American Marconi to a U.S. owner. The American Marconi assets were purchased by General Electric in 1919, which provided the foundation for creating its new subsidiary, the Radio Corporation of America. On July 20, 1897, the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, Limited, was founded in London to promote the radio inventions of Guglielmo Marconi. (The company's name was changed to Marconi's Wireless Telegraph
First long-distance telephone line Downieville, California. The site is now a California Historical Landmark. The marker is inscribed: WORLD'S FIRST LONG-DISTANCE TELEPHONE LINE The first long-distance telephone in the world, built in 1877 by the Ridge Telephone Company, connected French Corral with French Lake, 58 miles away. It was operated by the Milton Mining Company from a building on this site that had been erected about 1853. First long-distance telephone line The world's first long-distance telephone line, established in 1877, connected French Corral with Bowman Lake (previously known as French Lake) at the headwaters of the Yuba River. It was strung across trees and