naure.com
TechnologySurprise 4/5Difficulty 3/5Reviewed on September 15, 2026

The first telephone installed in the White House was in 1879, during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes.

Why it is true

The device was installed in the telegraph room and its number was simply one, as there were very few telephone subscribers in Washington city at the time.

Source: Telecommunications History

Would you rather be asked first?

This is the reading side of the site, so the answer is in the sentence above — that is the whole point of it. Test yourself works the other way round: the question comes on its own, and the fact and the explanation only appear once you have answered.

Test yourself →10-question challenge

Related facts

More in Technology

See all →