Interesting Facts About Social Security Numbers

The original social security card was designed by Fred Happel of Albany, N.Y in 1936. He was paid $60 for his work.
The first social security record was established for John David Sweeney on December 1, 1936 with a social security number of 055-09-0001. However, this is not to be confused with the *first social security card* issued. No one can point out the first card issued because hundreds of thousands of them were distributed around the same time through 45,000 post offices throughout US. Ironically, Sweeney died at the age of 61 without receiving any social security benefits.
The lowest SSN was given to Grace D. Owen of Concord, New Hampshire in 1936 and it was 001-01-0001.
The first recipient of social security benefits was Ernest Ackerman who received a lump-sum payment 17 cents in 1937.
Social security numbers are not allocated serially; meaning, the first number ever issued was not the lowest and the latest number issued will not be the highest.
So what’s the meaning of the numbers on the card? Most people probably know this, but I will mention it nevertheless. Below is a schematic of a typical social security card.
The first three digits are called the area number, the next two digits are called the group number, and the last four digits are the serial numbers. The area numbers are assigned on the basis of the zip-code on your SSN application. The group numbers are just for bookkeeping purposes only, they don’t have any specific meaning. In each group number, the serial numbers are allocated consecutively from 0001 to 9999.
Area numbers increase from east/northeast coast to west coast. People living on the east/northeast coast have the lowest area numbers (for example, people who apply for SSN from New Hampshire have the lowest area numbers) whereas, people living on the west coast and southwest areas have the highest area numbers.

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