January 1, 2020, marks the 85th anniversary of the launch of the
Associated Press Wirephoto service. The first photo was sent on January 1, 1935. Not sure why the AP article shows this historic news photography moment by using an illustration rather than a photo.
Sending photos over telephone lines was possible at least twenty years earlier but it was very slow and image quality was not that good. AP had the first wirephoto service and it was fast (for that era). AFP's wirephoto service started nine years later in 1944.