Yes, I'm talking about Britain's 999 emergency telephone number.
The first ever call to the newly created 999 service was made in the early hours of July 7, 1937 when Mr. Stanley Beard spotted a man at his house on Elsworthy Road, Hampstead. A radio car was dispatched and just four minutes later Mr. Thomas Duffy was arrested in Primrose Hill, and later charged with the attempted break-in.
One of the main pushes for creating the 999 service had been a serious fire on Wimpole St. some time earlier, in which five people died. An inquiry highlighted the fact that unless a person knew the number of the local emergency service needed, he could do nothing but dial the regular operator and wait in line, since the operators could have no idea whether a call was urgent or not until answered. London and several other major cities did have special fire-call points (break the glass and push the button) at strategic street corners, but these were not available everywhere and were not always quickly and easily accessible from some locations.
In these early days (and in fact for many decades to follow), emergency calls were taken by the same operators who gave general assistance, but 999 calls arrived on special trunk circuits which showed a red calling light instead of the usual white so that they could be given priority. Every incoming 999 call would also sound a klaxon and flash a large red light on each bank of switchboard positions until answered, just to make sure that there was no possibility of an emergency call being missed.
After its inauguration in London, Glasgow was next in line to receive 999 service. The war intervened and delayed further deployment, but by the late 1940s almost every medium-size and larger town in the country had 999 service, and by the 1950s it was available practically everywhere which had automatic (dial) telephone service.
Today, the 999 system has dedicated call centers which take over a half million calls every week. Although not widely known, 999 operators do not just complete calls to fire, police, and ambulance, but also have direct lines to H.M. Coastguard and to Mountain Rescue in the appropriate areas.
