---
title: "Birth Of a Lifeline: The Nation’s 911 Emergency System Turns 50"
metaTitle: "911 System Turns 50"
slug: 911-system-turns-50
date: "2018-02-16T15:24:50-06:00"
image:
  src: "https://cdn.securelogix.dev/slx/images/undefined.webp"
sourcePublisher:
  name: USA Today
  url: usat.ly
sourceArticle:
  url: "https://usat.ly/2oqM5WO"
legacySlug: birth-of-a-lifeline-the-nations-911-emergency-system-turns-50
tags: [Critical Infrastructure, "Emergency Services & 911 Systems"]
status: published
---

February 16, 2018

It all started simply enough just before dawn on July 8, 1937, when Mrs. Beard of Hampstead, England called police to report her husband was chasing a burglar around the neighborhood.

That phone call was the first in the world to take advantage of what was then a revolution in telecommunications — namely, a 911 emergency system...