Chair homicide

Perhaps it might deter 0.000000000000000000000000001% of hoax calls.

WRONG! Plenty of those! In fact, some made by my clients over the years, termed "abuse of services" when repeatedly made and subject to a misdemeanor charge. Example: "I want to report theft and abuse. My girlfriend has stolen my shirt and is now wearing it to go out with another dude plus she's a bitch so can you send an officer out? [long pause] Uh, yes, I am drunk, ma'am...so will you also have another King Cobra 40 sent over?"

Before I even knew it was 999 in the UK, I wondered why it wasn't the same three numbers for emergency. Preferably 111, because I can't see a darned thing without reading glasses, which are always somewhere else, and I often get 9 mixed up with 8, 0 or # on the TV remote or any keypad.

You are so right on all counts, Diane ... except one.
I actually wrote that it might deter 0.0000000000000001% of hoax calls - meaning effectively that it was useless in this regard! Unless I have now totally misunderstood you!
Anyway the heatwave is breaking wirth the mother of all thunderstorms imminent. It is a continuous roar and lightning show over the mountains, the air is still, the rain has started and is turning onto hail and I need to go and batten down the hatches. Bye for now ...

Wow, that sounds exciting! Still HOT here, clouds rolled in, a little thunder, but still HOT. Oh, I don't know, I probably didn't pay attention to your teeny-tiny percentage. Anyway, doesn't matter, it's time for a raindance!

I remember back in the days of rotary phones when people would complain about the 9, saying it took too long in an emergency to wait for the dial to spin back around. Imagine if there were three of them.

Different phone systems. You had immediate connection after each dialled number. In the UK, you had to wait. So the reverse would have been preferable - 999 in the US (or 111) and only 111 in the UK!

... here it is 110 (police) and 112 (fire brigade) ....

It looks like a massacre;-)

I think it was. I didn't find the weapon, though. ;-b Danke, Gudrun!

In the era of electromechanical telephone exchanges (strowger, step by step, crossbar etc) '111' could be unintentionally dialled by pressing the hang-up switches three times so this was never a good idea. ( Back then I once successfully dialled a normal 6 digit number just by tapping the hang-up switches, just for fun).

In Australia it was originally '2222' but this was changed in the 1960s to '000'. '0' is also used as the first digit in other special services and regional/state codes.

In Australia '112' is also an emergency number in the mobile phone networks.

Sheesh! I had no idea this was all so complicated! I'll be contemplating the idea of dialing numbers by tapping the hang-up switch, something that would not occur to me in a million years!

It's just a flesh wound.............nothing that a few stitches wouldn't sort out..!!

www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/11/999-vs-911-brits-americans-get-emergency-numbers