It had been in use in Britain since 1937, with the number being 999. In 1957, the National Association of Fire Chiefs recommended that a single number be used for reporting fires. The 1st city in North America to use a central emergency number was the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1959. As Canada was (and remains) a member of the British Commonwealth, it used the same number as Britain: 999.
In 1967, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended the creation of a single number that could be used nationwide for reporting emergencies. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) then met with representatives of American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) in order to choose the number. AT&T chose 911, which was simple, easy to remember, dialed easily (which, with the rotary dial phones in place at the time, 999 was not), and because of the middle 1, which indicated a special number, worked well with the phone systems at the time.
Alabama Telephone Company decided to implement it ahead of AT&T, choosing Haleyville as the location. The 1st call was made by Rankin Fite, Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, to the Congressman whose District included Haleyville, Representative Tom Bevill.
By 1972, most American cities had adopted 911, and Canada dropped 999 in favor of it as well. However, it was not until the late 1980s that 911 became used outside of major cities. Some cities now use 311 for non-emergency services of the municipal government. Here's the "11" numbers
* 011: Prefix for international calling.
* 111: Not used at all in America, but is the emergency number in New Zealand.
* 211: Community services and information.
* 311: Non-emergency municipal government services.
* 411: The traditional number used to call for telephone directory assistance. Often called just "Information," eventually becoming a slang term, as in Mary J. Blige's song, "What's the 411?"
* 511: Transportation information.
* 611: Used for reporting trouble with telephone service.
* 711: TDD and Relay services for the hearing impaired.
* 811: Underground public utility information.
* 811: Underground public utility information.
* 911: Emergency services.
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March 1, 1968 was a Friday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were no games scheduled in the NHL. But there were 4 games scheduled in the NBA:
* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 94-87 at the Boston Garden.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the St. Louis Hawks, 131-121 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.
* The Baltimore Bullets beat the San Diego Rockets, 156-114 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Despite the very high score, no player scored more than the 25 by the Bullets' Ray Scott.
* And the Cincinnati Royals beat the San Francisco Warriors, 122-101 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California. Oscar Robertson scored 31 points.
There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The New Jersey Americans lost to the Pittsburgh Pipers, 135-125 at the Teaneck Armory. The Pipers went on to win the league title. And yet, both teams moved before the next season: The Pipers to the Minneapolis area, becoming the Minnesota Muskies; and the Americans to nearby Long Island, becoming the New York Nets. And the New Orleans Buccaneers beat the Anaheim Amigos, 118-114 at the Loyola Field House in New Orleans.
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