US Engineer Who Invented Mobile Phone Made The First Call 50 Years Ago Today

Mr Cooper made the historic call from Sixth Avenue in New York while walking between 53rd and 54th Street.

Needless to say, phones have become a necessity in today's age. Not just for calling people, but for using tons of various features and services that it provides. But do you know when and where it all started? The first mobile phone call was made 50 years today, on April 3, 1973, by Motorola employee Martin Cooper, as per BBC. ''I'm an optimist. I know there are disadvantages to the cell phone. We do have people that get addicted to it. We have people walking across the street talking on their cell phones. Overall, I think the cell phone has changed humanity for the better and that will continue in the future'', Mr Cooper told CNN.

Mr Cooper made the historic call from Sixth Avenue in New York while walking between 53rd and 54th streets. At the time, Mr Cooper was working on a project to develop the first portable cell phone, which was dubbed the DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage). He made the call to Joel Engel, his counterpart at rival firm Bell Laboratories to tell him that he was calling from "a personal, handheld, portable cell phone".

''Joel, this is Marty. I'm calling you from a cell phone, a real handheld portable cell phone,'' he said.

"There was a silence at the other end. I suspect he was grinding his teeth," Mr Cooper reminisced about the historic call in a 2011 BBC interview.