I thought I would share a new #Holiday with you which falls on November 10 Area Code Day #AreaCodeDay which if your #Homeschooling your children you could have them do a lesson plan on area codes.
Then you could have them study Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of telephones and you could have them study how phones has changed throughout the years. Visit a #Museum or Store that would have landline phones for your children to see as part of a #FieldTrip. Then take a drive around town to see if you can find a Phone Booth and if it works let the kids make a call using this phone.
Area Code Day is celebrated on November 10th and the system of area codes is important because area codes help people to connect telephonically with people living outside their States or Cities easily and quickly.
Area Codes ensures that people can receive important information and news, especially in emergencies. Area Codes are a useful location finder for homes, businesses, and even government organizations, especially those that use landlines instead of mobile phones. Although we all know landlines are used less now, due to cellular and smart communication devices, area codes are still fun to know about.
Area Code Day acknowledges the creation and significance of area codes. Area codes are defined as a unique sequence of numbers that are dialed before making a call. Area Code Day is a great opportunity to value the existence of these area codes and their ingenious creation. Area codes were created in the labs of AT&T and Bell in 1940.
The concept of using area codes grew and modified with time. In 1947, area codes helped to overcome the shortage of phone numbers in Countries like the U.S. and Canada through the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). Different States or provinces were assigned an area code. To make this process more simple, different types of dial codes were given to different States. For example, the area codes for more populous States started and ended with a lower number.
During the 1940s, rotary phones were used to make calls, and more densely populated areas including Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles were assigned simpler three-digit codes that involved less manual rotation for dialing each numerical digit. The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) consisted of 25 different regions, including North America and the Caribbean.
However, a few Countries of North America, including Mexico, were not included in the NANP. AT&T went on managing the NANP and finally discontinued it after the administration was handed over to the American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) service, which was led by the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S.
Did you know there are two kinds of area codes? Local and toll-free. Those that are not toll-free, represent the geographic region to which a phone number belongs.
Area Code Day Activities
- If you have relatives that live in a different Town or City, then make sure to tell them how much you care about them by making them a surprise call on Area Code Day.
- Take the opportunity today to call your old school friends that you don’t talk to that often. Make sure to keep the call short and sweet, and try to call from your old school landline phone to celebrate Area Code Day in its true spirit.
- We often get calls from other Cities and feel embarrassed when we are unable to identify the area code in the number. If you are someone whose work requires dialing and receiving plenty of local calls on a daily basis, then it can be a great idea to learn some popular area codes used in your Country. This would save you from the hassle of googling the area code whenever you get any calls from a different City or State.
- Area Code Day is probably the best time to research the evolution of area codes in the U.S. and learn how they were adopted by the Country. You can read different blogs and articles about the American history of area codes and post your thoughts about it online. If you want, you can also use the hashtag #AreaCodeDay to reach out to more people online.
Facts About Telephones
- Did you know the very first cellular phone had a talk time of just 30 minutes before the battery died?
- Mark Twain was one of the first people who owned a telephone in the U.S. and declined to invest in the Bell company when an opportunity was given him.
- After Alexander Graham Bell’s sad demise in 1922, all phone services held a minute of silence in recognition of his work.
- The very first person Graham Bell called with his phone was his assistant, Thomas Watson.
- The first phone book came out in 1878 and consisted of only 20 pages.
Why People Love Area Code Day
Each particular geographic region can be easily identified through an area code and people can know the exact geographical location of people through their landline number.
By celebrating Area Code Day, we get an opportunity to learn how the system was created and implemented in the U.S. Earlier, people had to ask an operator to dial the number of a person they wanted to talk with. Similarly, if someone wanted to call a doctor in case of an emergency, the entire process took extra time because it ran through manual switchboards.
The expansion of local telephone networks in different American Towns and States through area codes has made communication much easier for people. We can easily stay in touch with our friends, family, or colleagues living in a different State or Country.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
