So which was it, the telephone or the fax machine? Wait, what? Seriously? Of course there had to be phone lines in place before a fax machine would even be useful, right? Nope.
According to
Wikipedia:
"Scottish inventor Alexander Bain worked on chemical mechanical fax type devices and in 1846 was able to reproduce graphic signs in laboratory experiments. He received patent 9745 on May 27, 1843 for his 'Electric Printing Telegraph.' Frederick Bakewell made several improvements on Bain's design and demonstrated a telefax machine. The Pantelegraph was invented by the Italian physicist Giovanni Caselli. He introduced the first commercial telefax service between Paris and Lyon in 1865, some 11 years before the invention of telephones."
There's something interesting that I did not know.
I find it odd and interesting that there is a specific injunction against joining the Peace Corps if you've ever worked for the CIA (or any intelligence agency, for that matter). Likewise there is a temporary injunction the other way round...you can't be employed by an intelligence agency for a period of time (determined separately by each agency). I wonder why this might be the case; closest I can come is that because the Peace Corps is often an overseas posting, members have the potential to make non-secure contacts during their tenure with the Peace Corps which would then take advantage of their intelligence clearances and whatnot? Dunno. Strange.
