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The term "subscriber trunk dialling" is, or was, also used in other countries such as Australia, but the corresponding term in the US and Canada is direct distance dialing.

In the UK, STD started when, on 5 December 1958, the Queen, who was in Bristol dialled a phone call to Edinburgh ([1]). However, it was not until 1979 that the STD system was completed ([2]). The system required that each area have its own STD code which could be dialled by subscribers, and although they are now officially called area codes, it is still common to see and hear the old term in everyday use.

The term was extended, when on 8 March 1963Events January-March January 11 The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened. January 14 George Wallace becomes governor of Alabama. January 22 Elysee treaty between France and Germany January 28 Black student Harvey, LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri subscribers were able to dial ParisEiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. Paris is the capital and largest city of France. The city is built on an arc of the River Seine, and is thus divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank to direct using international subscriber trunk dialling ([3]).

References

http://www.btplc.com/Corporateinformation/BTArchives/history/Eventsintelecommunicationshistory.htm

The archives of BT including archives of its predecessor organizations. A good source of information relating to the history of the telephone system in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/21/newsid_2510000/2510289.stm

Archive news article from the BBC on the introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling.

http://www.sigtel.com/tel_hist_earlystd.html

Article detailing how the original STD Codes were allocated.