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 a 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 and has the international callin ...

for the area around and including the city of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The area code was created in October 1947, along with area code 715, 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 the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

to the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

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 Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, received

area code 608 The 608 area code covers much of southwestern Wisconsin, including the capital city of Madison as well as the cities of Waunakee, Mount Horeb, Verona, Sun Prairie, Monroe, Platteville, Lancaster, Lodi, Portage, Baraboo, Wisconsin Dells, Be ...

. 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 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byza ...

. 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 a 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 and has the international calling ...

assigned

area code 262 North American telephone area code 262 covers much of Southeastern Wisconsin, and was created on September 25, 1999, when it was split from area code 414. It covers most of the suburbs of Milwaukee, but not Milwaukee County itself. The eastern p ...

as a second area code for southeastern Wisconsin. The initial proposal called for 262 to be an

overlay Overlay may refer to: Computers *Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network *Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application *Another term for exec, replacing one process ...

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 that are members of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when dialing to initiate a telep ...

. 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 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, and the 45th most populous coun ...

transferring to 262. Today, area code 414 covers all of Milwaukee County, including the city of Milwaukee. It also serves slivers of

Waukesha County Waukesha County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its county seat and largest city is Waukesha. Waukesha Co ...

, 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 Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

, Waukesha, and

Menomonee Falls Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States, and is part of the Greater Milwaukee area. The population was 35,626 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous village in Wisconsin. It is the fourth largest communi ...

, 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 a 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 and has the international calling ...

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

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) is a United States-based suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preven ...

, 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. Until then, Milwaukee had been one of the largest cities where seven-digit dialing was still theoretically possible, since 414 had been one of the last urbanized area codes without an overlay.

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 Hacker (computer security), computer hackers from Milwaukee who broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including ones at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Sloan-Kettering ...

, broke into several high-profile computer systems across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. 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. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

have a home game on the day at

American Family Field American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's ...

, 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 years ...

outside rivalries are less attended. Due to the

2022 Major League Baseball season The 2022 Major League Baseball season (MLB) was originally scheduled to begin on March 31 and end on October 2. The 2021–22 MLB lockout caused the season to be delayed by one week, starting on April 7. The regular season ended on October 5. The ...

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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

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 Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

' 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 tea ...

, 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

In popular culture

See also

References

External links