5 ms·

I'd always assumed (UK) that 9 was a deliberate choice to make it easier to dial the emergency number, 999, because you can just mash 9 until something happens.

I'd always assumed (UK) that 9 was a deliberate choice to make it easier to dial the emergency number, 999, because you can just mash 9 until something happens. I guess if it's the same number in all other countries who have a range of emergency numbers, then that might not be the reason.

jtnag 5y ago
My working theory is that in old times phones had rotary dial instead of key pad. Number 1 was the longest to dial, 9 was the shortest (as I remember from childhood days). Thus, fastest way to dial 3 digit code was to use numbers with as much as 9 as possible (997,998,999).
- stephenr 5y ago
  I grew up with a rotary phone. From memory, 1 was the shortest to dial, 9 the longest.
  - jtnag 5y ago
    I stand corrected then!
    - TuringTest 5y ago
      Pedantic tidbit of archaic lore: this was so because each digit was represented by the number of clicks that the rotating disc triggered on the line (with 10 clicks for 0).
      - addingnumbers 5y ago
        If the dial was locked or missing, you could still "dial" a number by quickly tapping it with the on-hook switch the receiver would rest on, because that was the same effect the rotary dial mechanism was producing
  - magicalhippo 5y ago
    Actually this is country specific AFAIK. Wikipedia has a picture[1] of a phone from New Zealand which has 9 as the shortest. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial#/media/File:New_Zealand_Rotary_Telephone.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial#/media/File:New_Ze...
    - stephenr 5y ago
      Kiwis don't count /s
    - tech2 5y ago
      This might also explain why the Kiwi emergency number is 111 as a counterpoint to the UK's 999. Interesting!
- andrewshadura 5y ago
  One was the shortest to dial since it's just one pulse, nine was the longest one. The purpose was to make it hard to dial 999 accidentally.
- lisper 5y ago
  You have it backwards. 1 is the shortest to dial. Zero is longest. 9 is second longest.
- RKearney 5y ago
  Was the arrangement of the numbers backwards from the US rotary phone? Because in the US 1 was the shortest. That’s why large cities like New York got 212 and Los Angeles got 213 which were the fastest to dial on a rotary phone.
- jaclaz 5y ago
  I would add that 911 is a "queer" choice (for rotary phones), in other countries the emergency numbers are lowish numbers, in Italy 112 or 113 (or 115), and there are several records in the past of people managing to "dial" them by quickly pushing and releasing the hook switch. There was another reason for this as it was common, many, many years ago, to restrict the possibility to make phone calls by using a little lock on the dial, like this: https://www.ebay.it/itm/402554995319?hash=item5dba25c277:g:~GwAAOSwls5foX6V https://www.ebay.it/itm/402554995319?hash=item5dba25c277:g:~... it was placed on the #3 hole, so that you could dial 112 or 113 even when the lock was on.
  - BrandoElFollito 5y ago
    > in Italy 112 Did you introduce the EU emergency number as the national one? If so - good choice. In France we have the plethora of numbers (15, 17, 18 - I actually do not know what 16 does), and also 112. We are still teaching "18" as the primary number (you get the firemen who will either come for a fire, or for an accident, or dispatch). We could go for 112 (and keep the older number for a generation, redirecting them to 112) and not rely on people to know which number to call. UPDATE: I just asked my 17 yo son which number he would call in an emergency and he said 112. So there is hope :)
    - Symbiote 5y ago
      The EU standardised on 112 a few years ago. Old numbers continue to work. Also, the GSM system (so almost all mobile phones, world wide) must support 112.
    - cmehdy 5y ago
      If you can read french, here's a page about why 16 isn't used (anymore!) https://www.guichetdusavoir.org/viewtopic.php?t=36236 https://www.guichetdusavoir.org/viewtopic.php?t=36236 TL;DR Running out of numbers and putting in temporary measures requiring the 16 as prefix. Measures that likely didn't scale as well as expected since we moved on to a different system within basically 10 years.
      - 5y ago
- monooso 5y ago
  I heard a very interesting explanation (on BBC R4) of the reason for choosing 9 (one of the slowest numbers to dial), rather than 1 (the quickest). The old overhead telephone lines could knock against each other in the wind, producing a pulse which (to the system) appeared to be a 1. This could easily happen three times in a row, resulting in an unwanted call to the emergency services.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- ahofmann 5y ago
  On rotaryphones 0 takes the longest to dial, then comes the 9. 1 was the fastest to dial, I think this is the reason why emergency numbers tend to have the lower numbers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial
stordoff 5y ago
According to Wikipedia: > The 9-9-9 format was chosen based on the 'button A' and 'button B' design of pre-payment coin-operated public payphones in wide use (first introduced in 1925) which could be easily modified to allow free use of the 9 digit on the rotary dial in addition to the 0 digit (then used to call the operator), without allowing free use of numbers involving other digits There's a citation, but it's a book from 1950, so not particularly easy to verify. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_number)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_numbe...

jtnag 5y ago

My working theory is that in old times phones had rotary dial instead of key pad. Number 1 was the longest to dial, 9 was the shortest (as I remember from childhood days). Thus, fastest way to dial 3 digit code was to use numbers with as much as 9 as possible (997,998,999).

stephenr 5y ago
I grew up with a rotary phone. From memory, 1 was the shortest to dial, 9 the longest.
- jtnag 5y ago
  I stand corrected then!
  - TuringTest 5y ago
    Pedantic tidbit of archaic lore: this was so because each digit was represented by the number of clicks that the rotating disc triggered on the line (with 10 clicks for 0).
    - addingnumbers 5y ago
      If the dial was locked or missing, you could still "dial" a number by quickly tapping it with the on-hook switch the receiver would rest on, because that was the same effect the rotary dial mechanism was producing
- magicalhippo 5y ago
  Actually this is country specific AFAIK. Wikipedia has a picture[1] of a phone from New Zealand which has 9 as the shortest. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial#/media/File:New_Zealand_Rotary_Telephone.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial#/media/File:New_Ze...
  - stephenr 5y ago
    Kiwis don't count /s
  - tech2 5y ago
    This might also explain why the Kiwi emergency number is 111 as a counterpoint to the UK's 999. Interesting!
andrewshadura 5y ago
One was the shortest to dial since it's just one pulse, nine was the longest one. The purpose was to make it hard to dial 999 accidentally.
lisper 5y ago
You have it backwards. 1 is the shortest to dial. Zero is longest. 9 is second longest.
RKearney 5y ago
Was the arrangement of the numbers backwards from the US rotary phone? Because in the US 1 was the shortest. That’s why large cities like New York got 212 and Los Angeles got 213 which were the fastest to dial on a rotary phone.
jaclaz 5y ago
I would add that 911 is a "queer" choice (for rotary phones), in other countries the emergency numbers are lowish numbers, in Italy 112 or 113 (or 115), and there are several records in the past of people managing to "dial" them by quickly pushing and releasing the hook switch. There was another reason for this as it was common, many, many years ago, to restrict the possibility to make phone calls by using a little lock on the dial, like this: https://www.ebay.it/itm/402554995319?hash=item5dba25c277:g:~GwAAOSwls5foX6V https://www.ebay.it/itm/402554995319?hash=item5dba25c277:g:~... it was placed on the #3 hole, so that you could dial 112 or 113 even when the lock was on.
- BrandoElFollito 5y ago
  > in Italy 112 Did you introduce the EU emergency number as the national one? If so - good choice. In France we have the plethora of numbers (15, 17, 18 - I actually do not know what 16 does), and also 112. We are still teaching "18" as the primary number (you get the firemen who will either come for a fire, or for an accident, or dispatch). We could go for 112 (and keep the older number for a generation, redirecting them to 112) and not rely on people to know which number to call. UPDATE: I just asked my 17 yo son which number he would call in an emergency and he said 112. So there is hope :)
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    The EU standardised on 112 a few years ago. Old numbers continue to work. Also, the GSM system (so almost all mobile phones, world wide) must support 112.
  - cmehdy 5y ago
    If you can read french, here's a page about why 16 isn't used (anymore!) https://www.guichetdusavoir.org/viewtopic.php?t=36236 https://www.guichetdusavoir.org/viewtopic.php?t=36236 TL;DR Running out of numbers and putting in temporary measures requiring the 16 as prefix. Measures that likely didn't scale as well as expected since we moved on to a different system within basically 10 years.
    - 5y ago
monooso 5y ago
I heard a very interesting explanation (on BBC R4) of the reason for choosing 9 (one of the slowest numbers to dial), rather than 1 (the quickest). The old overhead telephone lines could knock against each other in the wind, producing a pulse which (to the system) appeared to be a 1. This could easily happen three times in a row, resulting in an unwanted call to the emergency services.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ahofmann 5y ago
On rotaryphones 0 takes the longest to dial, then comes the 9. 1 was the fastest to dial, I think this is the reason why emergency numbers tend to have the lower numbers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial

stordoff 5y ago

According to Wikipedia: > The 9-9-9 format was chosen based on the 'button A' and 'button B' design of pre-payment coin-operated public payphones in wide use (first introduced in 1925) which could be easily modified to allow free use of the 9 digit on the rotary dial in addition to the 0 digit (then used to call the operator), without allowing free use of numbers involving other digits There's a citation, but it's a book from 1950, so not particularly easy to verify. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_number)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_numbe...