Area code 414 is a telephone area code 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 calling ...

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 ...

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 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 th ...

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 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, B ...

. 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 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 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, 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 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 network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9- ...

, 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 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 1983 ...

, 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 territori ...

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 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 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 (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. 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 __NOTOC__ Year 414 ( CDXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Constans (or, less frequently, year 1167 ...

Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947

In popular culture

See also

References

External links