Monday marks 20 years since first text message sent

CINCINNATI - Dec. 3 marks the 20th anniversary of the first text message sent to a mobile phone.

British engineer Neil Papworth was just 22 years old when he sent the first ever SMS (Short Messaging Service) from his computer to a friend's Orbitel 901 mobile phone.

The message read "Merry Christmas."

Brits have sent more than 150 billion texts in 2011 alone. But there's been a drop in the first half of 2012, which officials believe is because of growing use in Internet-based communications like Blackberry Messenger, iMessenger, Google Talk and MSN messenger, as well as Facebook and Twitter.