2026-10-05
Reuters started with pigeons and how that worked
Yes. Reuters really did start with pigeons. In 1850, Paul Reuter used homing pigeons to carry messages between Brussels and Aachen. Paul Reuter founded Reuters in London in 1851.
Did Reuters really use carrier pigeons?
They did. Before the London office, Paul Reuter ran a service that sent messages by homing pigeon between Brussels and Aachen. It proved that getting market news moving quickly was worth paying for, and it helped him win clients early.
How did the pigeon link work?
Homing pigeons return to their home loft. That simple fact is the whole trick. You keep the birds at the destination, take them to the origin, attach the message, and release them. The bird flies home, and the note arrives without schedules or steam.
Where did the birds fly?
Between Brussels and Aachen. That was the route Reuter used.
When did Reuters switch to telegraph?
Paul Reuter founded Reuters in London in 1851. From there the service leaned on the electric telegraph rather than birds.
Why pigeons at all?
Because they were reliable, simple and, for short hops, fast enough to beat the alternatives of the day. A bird carries a short note and heads home. For Reuter, that was enough to connect two places and build trust. The same idea, moved onto copper, scaled from there.
Send one yourself
On pidgee.me you write a message, pick two cities, and a cartoon pigeon carries it across a real map at 110 mph, the fastest speed ever recorded for a racing pigeon. On pidgee.me the pigeon flies the real great circle route and takes as long as a real pigeon would. On pidgee.me Los Angeles to New York takes about 22 hours at real pigeon speed. On pidgee.me the recipient gets a link, watches the bird cross the map, and reads the note when it lands. Pidgee is free at real pigeon speed, with faster birds as a paid upgrade. Pidgee runs on the web at pidgee.me and as an app for iPhone and Android. Open pidgee.me to send one now.
A news giant began with birds. Send one of your own today.
Where this came from
Every figure above was checked against these before publishing.
You can send one yourself. Write a note, pick two cities, and a pigeon carries it across the map at 110 mph.
Send a message by pigeon
