In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In 1935, Western Union has put into operation first intercity fax communication. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. In 1866, Sibley ordered the engineers to develop a Western Union telegraph system of stock quotes in real time. In 1933, by the Western Union Company were invented "singing telegrams". In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission.