OMG : Texting Turns 20...Happy Bday 2 U

On Dec. 3, 1992, Neil Papworth, a young software engineer in England, sent out the world's first text message.

Typing on a PC — since mobile phones weren't yet equipped with keyboards — he wrote a cheery message to Vodafone's Richard Jarvis. It read, simply: Merry Christmas.

Twenty years later, text messaging, or texting, has become one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication.

A study by the Pew Research Center earlier this year found that 75 per cent of cellphone owners across 21 countries used their devices to send SMS (short message service) messages. Texting is especially common in Indonesia, Kenya and Lebanon. (Globe & Mail)