U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for March 10 -- WASHINGTON, March 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WASHINGTON, March 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: Profile America - Sunday, March 10th. For many Americans, trying to envision life without our various telephones would be like trying to live without indoor plumbing. The telephone is 137 years old today. That's when Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Over a wire to his assistant in the next room, Bell said, "Mister Watson, come here; I want to see you." Only when Bell improved his invention to carry a voice for several miles did the public discover a need for them. Now, the public has an insatiable appetite for phones and uses them in ways Bell could not have foreseen. Over 97 percent of America's nearly 115 million occupied households have phone service. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, General Housing Data, 2011 American Housing Survey