Answer: Alexander Graham Bell’s Funeral

Alexander Graham Bell was a prolific late 19th/early 20th century inventor who outright invented or refined all manner of things including metal detectors, air craft wings, hyrdro-foils, and–most notably–the telephone.

Given his enormous contribution to field of communication and his pivotal role in the invention and deployment of the telephone, it was only appropriate then that the vast network he created should fall silent in honor of his death. On August 4, 1922, all telephone service in the United States and Canada was silenced for one minute during his funeral.