Area code 414 is a telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

of the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...

for the area around and including the city of

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

History

The area code was created in October 1947, along with

area code 715 Area codes 715 and 534 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises most of the northern part of the state. 715 was one of the original North Am ...

, as one of the two original area codes assigned to Wisconsin. The numbering plan area (NPA) originally included most of the southern and northeastern parts of Wisconsin, stretching from

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

to the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

borders. 715, then as now, covered the remaining northwestern part. The numbering plan area was first split in 1955, when much of the western portion, including Madison, received

area code 608 Area codes 608 and 353 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan for much of southwestern Wisconsin, including the state capital city Madison. History Area code 608 was assigned in 1955 to a numbering plan area (NPA) created ...

. This configuration remained in place until July 26, 1997, when the northern half of NPA 414, including Green Bay and the Fox River Valley, became numbering plan area 920. The creation of 920 was intended as a long-term solution, but within a year 414 was close to exhaustion once again due to the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. In 1998, the

North American Numbering Plan Administration The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...

assigned

area code 262 Area code 262 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The numbering plan area comprises suburbs that are a part of the Milwaukee and Chicago metropolitan areas. The a ...

as a second area code for southeastern Wisconsin. The initial proposal called for 262 to be an overlay for the 414 territory. However, overlays were a new concept at the time, and met with considerable resistance due to the requirement for

ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when Dialling (telephony), dialing to initiate a t ...

. As a result, effective September 25, 1999, the new area code was implemented as a geographic split, with nearly all of the old 414 territory outside of

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

transferring to 262. Today, area code 414 covers all of Milwaukee County, including the city of Milwaukee. It also serves slivers of Waukesha County, including portions of Muskego and Brookfield, as well as the industrial "Ambrosia triangle" which is within the Milwaukee city limits. The Milwaukee portion of Washington County, mostly an industrial area, also stayed in 414 after the split. Milwaukee is the center of one of the largest toll-free calling zones in the country. No long-distance charges are applied from one portion of the 414 territory to another; portions of the 262 territory, such as Racine, Waukesha, and Menomonee Falls, are a local call to and from Milwaukee as well. Despite the Milwaukee area's continued growth, 414 is nowhere near exhaustion. The latest projections did not list an exhaust date for 414, meaning that the Milwaukee area will not need another area code for at least 30 years. Prior to October 2021, area code 414 had telephone numbers assigned for the

central office code The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Numbering Zone 1 and has the ...

988. In 2020, ''988'' was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States, or Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada, and formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is a suicide prevention and crisis help line to a network of a large number of crisis ce ...

, which created a conflict for exchanges that permit

seven-digit dialing Seven-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure customary in some territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for dialing telephone numbers in the same numbering plan area (NPA). NANP telephone numbers consist of ten digits, of wh ...

. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to

by October 24, 2021.

In popular culture

The area code gained infamy in 1983, when a gang of six Milwaukee-area teenagers, calling themselves

The 414s The 414s were a group of computer hackers from Milwaukee who broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including ones at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Security Pacific National Bank, in 1982 and 1 ...

, broke into several high-profile computer systems across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The City of Milwaukee officially started celebrating Milwaukee Day in 2009. It is celebrated on April 14, or "4/14", in honor of Milwaukee's area code. When the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

have a home game on the day at

American Family Field American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Located southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 in Wisconsin, Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard, it is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewe ...

, many of the tickets are priced at $4.14 in honor of the day to encourage attendance during April, when the season starts and games outside

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

outside rivalries are less attended. Due to the 2022 Major League Baseball season being delayed due to a lockout, that year's home opener against the rival

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

occurred on April 14 (though with a reduced allocation of $4.14-priced tickets), and the game's first pitch was thrown at 4:14 p.m. Central. The

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

' new arena,

Fiserv Forum Fiserv Forum (; stylized as fiserv.forum) is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the home of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team ...

, was nicknamed the "Four-One-Forum" by fans in an homage to the area code.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 414 414 414 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links