Western Union has taken of 451st position in the rating Fortune 500 in 2009, having moved from 473rd line in 2008. The project of congressmen involved the construction of lines with the length of two thousand miles in 10 years. Western Union handled the government task within 112 days. The secret of Sibley was simple: he used the tactics of the "Western Union". 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 October 1871 the company has implemented the world's first telegraph money order. After a century money transfers have become a major source of income for Western Union. In 1933, by the Western Union Company were invented "singing telegrams". 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 1849, Selden and Sibley, the founders of the future Western Union, created the New York State Printing Telegraph Company. In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission.