<story><title>In 1919, an Army convoy drove cross-country from Washington to San Francisco</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/07/driving-cross-country-was-crazy-idea-an-army-convoy-set-out-show-it-could-be-done/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>seltzered_</author><text>For some time context, the first New York to San Francisco telephone call was in 1915:&lt;p&gt;“Six months later, amidst the celebrations surrounding the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, on January 25, 1915, Alexander Graham Bell, in New York City, repeated his famous statement &amp;quot;Mr. Watson, come here. I want you,&amp;quot; into the telephone, which was heard by his assistant Dr. Watson in San Francisco, for a long distance call of 3,400 miles (5,500 km).” &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;First_transcontinental_telephone_call&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;First_transcontinental_telepho...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>In 1919, an Army convoy drove cross-country from Washington to San Francisco</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/07/driving-cross-country-was-crazy-idea-an-army-convoy-set-out-show-it-could-be-done/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>ceejayoz</author><text>With Dwight Eisenhower on board.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The heavy vehicles had damaged or destroyed 88 bridges and caused 230 road accidents.&lt;p&gt;No wonder he considered creating the Interstate system to be a critical piece of infrastructure.</text></comment>