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First SMS message was sent in 1992

Associated Press Mobile messaging has grown greatly since 1992. (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review
Associated Press Mobile messaging has grown greatly since 1992. (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

SMS, or short message service, came out of a collective effort by the phone companies in the 1980s to find a simple way to send quick messages to mobile devices.

In December 1992, the first commercial SMS message was tapped out in England by Neil Papworth to a friend. The message: “Merry Christmas.”

He used a computer to send the message to a mobile phone.

The first full mobile-to-mobile SMS was sent by Riku Pihkonen in 1993.