Video: '3rd April 1860: The first Pony Express service went into operation'

(Tuesday, April 3, 1860, 7:15 p.m. local time in St. Joseph, Mo.) — The legendary Pony Express, a mail service delivering messages, newspapers and mail using relays of horse-mounted riders, began today, with riders leaving St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, at the same time.

The delivery system lasted only 18 months before giving way to the transcontinental telegraph.