In the early forties of the 20th century, Western Union has used the first time a commercial intercity microwave transmission system. America was on the verge of civil war and needed a reliable connection between the North and South. On the telegraph market of the USA at this time were operated with six large companies: American Telegraph Company, New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company, Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph, Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company, and the brainchild of Sibley & Co. - The Western Union Telegraph. In the 30's of the twentieth century, Western Union has become the world's largest telegraph company. In 1866, Sibley ordered the engineers to develop a Western Union telegraph system of stock quotes in real time. In 1995, First Financial Management was acquired by First Data Corp. (the deal amounted to $ 7 billion), and Western Union Financial Services became a subsidiary of First Data. Money transfer is a matter of minutes, at any distance. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. On the market was placed about 765 million of ordinary shares of the company. On the first day trading on the exchange the company's shares rose by 3.3% and the cost was $ 19.96. In the summer of 1990 top managers of the Western Union Company spent day and night in the main office in Englewood (Colorado, USA). They needed to meet the challenge: to save the Western Union from bankruptcy, paying off the debts of the company millions of dollars. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.