In the Western Union in the 30s of the 20th century worked 14 thousand couriers delivering telegrams. In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In the early 60s Western Union has put into operation transcontinental microwave system of data transmission via radio waves, completely replacing the web of telegraph poles and wires. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. In 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card. 1970 - a new service called The first offices of company were located in the Reynolds Arcade building in Rochester, New York. The sign above the main entrance to the building - In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission. In 1884 Western Union has become a joint-stock company and was brought to the stock exchange. The company has entered in the first American stock index Dow Jones.