News Travels Fast—now

These days, it takes only a millisecond for information to travel 1,000 miles, but how long would it have taken in past modes of communication?

By Foot Messenger: 11 Days, 20 Hours

In 1986, Stu Mittleman set this record for an endurance run of 1,000 miles, while averaging three hours sleep per night.

By Carrier Pigeon: 1 Day, 10 Hours

Wayne Jr. established the record for a 1,000-mile race in 1927: 122 yards per minute. (His record still stands today.)

By Telegraph: 3 Minutes

A skilled telegraph operator could send about 16 words per minute in 1850. Thus, a 50-word tidbit of celebrity gossip would have taken about 3 minutes.

By Switchboard Phone Call: 40 Seconds

In 1930, an experienced operator could gather the call information, fill in the record ticket, look up the route number, and plug in the appropriate cables to connect a long-distance call in less than a minute.

Spike Carlsen, in the book a Walk around the block