Neil Papworth Sends Merry Christmas

The first SMS text message was sent on December 3, 1992, by 22-year-old British test engineer Neil Papworth. Because mobile phones could not yet send text messages, Papworth transmitted it from a computer over Vodafone's network to an Orbitel 901 phone carried by company director Richard Jarvis. The historic message contained just two words: "Merry Christmas."

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