1980 - for the first time in the history of Western Union revenues from money transfers exceeded the income from the telegraph service. In 1920, Western Union has implemented the world's first transmission of images over the ocean. You do not need to open a bank account, so you can send or receive money in any of the 170 000 service points of Western Union around the world. 1970 - a new service called In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network.