In what year was the first text message sent?

SMS messaging was used for the first time on 3 December 1992, when Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old test engineer for Sema Group in the UK (now Airwide Solutions), used a personal computer to send the text message "Merry Christmas" via the Vodafone network to the phone of Richard Jarvis who was at a party in Newbury, Berkshire which had been organised to celebrate the event.

Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, fixed devices (e.g., desktop computers) or portable devices (e.g., tablet computers or smartphones). While text messages are usually sent over a phone network, due to the convergence between the telecommunication and broadcasting industries in the 2000s, text messages may also be sent via a cable network or Local Area Network. The term originally referred to messages sent using the Short Message Service (SMS). It has grown beyond alphanumeric text to include multimedia messages (known as MMS) containing digital images, videos, and sound content, as well as ideograms known as emoji (happy faces and other icons).

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

28 Comments

Michael Barker

Robert Batchelor, read about "text message" and then reread the question

catmom

I actually got this right by figuring it out. I DO text but I would NEVER EVER SEXT -- I wouldn't have the guts & I think it totally inappropriate by either women or men. No thx, it would turn me off completely & I'm very liberal.

Bob Fowler

ninakamwene, I presume you ment Sexting . Oh err Mrs ! 🥺

Bob Fowler

Leading to the sad demise of Human conversation. One Day I saw 2 young people that after Texting each other, then realising that they were on the other side of the High street from each other.

earlepg

1992, first text message. It would seem more appropriate to indicate 1994, when text messageing was first used commercially. 1992 seems to indicate the end of testing whether texting worked.

earlepg

Howard Groopman, 2019 is when I sent my first text message.

earlepg

John Flaxman, It seems that folks want to put faith in what others say and trust that fact that whoever takes the time (often appearing to be considerable) has communicated factual information. Of course that is also depending upon others correcting actual errors when they are found.