It was just 20 years ago today that the first SMS transmission - what we now call a text message - was sent. The message: "Merry Christmas."

An engineer named Neil Papworth was working in Britain on a mobile messaging project for the European cellular company, Vodaphone. On December 3, 1992, he tested his work by sending the text to one of Vodaphone's directors, who received it at a Christmas party.

At the time, you needed a computer to send a text - but you could receive the message on a phone.

To say that texting has taken off since then is quite an understatement. A trade group reports that nearly 185 billion text messages are sent per month in the United States alone. But before you go all, um, atwitter about texting, tech watchers warn that SMS messaging may have peaked in favor of new ways of communicating electronically.

So happy anniversary to the text (even though the message today would probably read "mry xmas" - got to save wear and tear on those thumbs, after all!).

Here's a link to more information on today's anniversary.