Beyond the Inbox: Surprising Facts About Email

What began as a simple message transmitted between two computers has evolved into a technology and a tool that touched upon nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Emails went through more than 50 years of history and over countless updates and developments to be what they are now—one of the most popular communication tools for businesses and people all over the world. 

This article explores diverse facts about email, both familiar to millions and lesser known. We will remember when the first email was sent, smile at the fun facts about email, as well as know some of the current email facts regarding usage, behavioral trends, and its vulnerabilities in an increasingly digital world. Let’s begin!

Historical Milestones in Email Development

From QWERTYUIOP to conquering the world

The first email ever sent was delivered in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, a computer programmer working on ARPANET, an ancestor of the modern Internet. Tomlinson’s original test message was just a sequence of letters from the upper line of the keyboard, “QWERTYUIOP,” and was exchanged between two computers next to each other. This historical breakthrough laid the foundation for the email system as we know it today. It also showcases that even some of the most outstanding technologies sometimes have very humble beginnings (Contentsnare).

The Queen goes digital or the first royal email

A few years later, in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II became the first head of state to send an email, using ARPANET to communicate with a colleague. This history fact about email is another milestone that showcases email penetration in life that goes beyond technical circles and its adaptation to broader public life (National Geographic).

Hello, Earth! The first email sent from space

Fast forward to 1991 and the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. It is when the first email was sent from space! The playful message was “Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…” (Porch Group Media).

The evolution of modern email giants

Just a few years after that, in 1996, Microsoft introduced Internet Mail and News 1.0, which later became Outlook, one of the most widely used email clients in the world. The integration of email into Microsoft’s Office Suite made it a dominant player in business communications. Google entered the email arena in 2004 with the launch of Gmail and revolutionized the email landscape by offering unprecedented storage and threaded email conversations. By 2007, Gmail had overtaken its competitors and secured its place as a leading email service provider (Contentsnare).

Bill Clinton’s shouting email diplomacy

Concluding the list of historical email milestones, former U.S. President Bill Clinton famously claimed he sent only two emails during his presidency. One of them was to Carl Bildt, then the prime minister of Sweden, written in ALL CAPS as if he were shouting. However, despite this claim made in 2011, the Atlantic later reported that he had sent more than two emails. This peculiar fact only added some spice to the Clinton family’s saga of disappearing emails (Atmail).

Current Usage Statistics and Trends

From the U.S. to Europe: Countries sending billions of emails per day

As of 2024, the United States is the leading country in email traffic, with nearly 10 billion emails sent daily. Germany and Ireland follow closely, each sending 8.5 billion emails daily. Other European countries such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France each send 8.3 billion emails per day. These figures are truly impressive and are a good indicator of how deeply email communication has penetrated our daily routines all over (Statista).

Driven by the Internet or growing email popularity

On a global scale, the number of email users is equally impressive. Currently, there are approximately 4 billion daily email users, and that number is expected to rise to 4.6 billion by 2025. This steady growth is largely driven by the increasing accessibility of the Internet in developing countries and the continued importance of email in business operations (Porch Group Media).

Growing email importance in our life in figures

• One particularly interesting fact about email usage is the sheer volume of emails exchanged globally. In 2022, it was estimated that 333 billion emails were sent and received every day. This figure is expected to increase to 392.5 billion by 2026, driven by the growing reliance on email for everything from personal communication to digital marketing campaigns (Statista). 
• Email popularity remains high across various demographics. For example, in 2021, 95% of Americans aged 25–44 years old used email, and even among those aged 65 and older, email penetration was over 85%. Interestingly, younger users, aged 15–24, had a slightly lower usage rate, indicating the generational shift towards other forms of digital communication such as social media and instant messaging apps (Market.us).
• Another impressive fact about email is that in 2023, the volume of daily email traffic was 3.268 million emails sent per second, and by 2025, this number is projected to rise further, reaching 376.4 billion daily emails (Market.us).

Behavioral Insights and Patterns

Bed, bath, and email: The inevitable role of email in our daily routines

As email penetrates our daily activities deeper and deeper, it inevitably blends with our routines. For example, 26% of people check their emails before even getting out of bed. Additionally, 69% of users check their emails while watching TV, 57% in bed, and an astonishing 79% of people continue to check their emails while on vacation. This behavior underscores the constant presence of email in our lives, making it almost a reflexive activity (Atmail).

Constant email checking can cause stress and productivity hits 

However, this constant engagement comes with consequences. Email checking has been shown to cause stress, particularly when done excessively. The average person checks their email 15 times a day, which can disrupt productivity and increase anxiety. A study from the University of British Columbia found that limiting email checks to just three times per day significantly reduces stress and increases focus. This is one of the more interesting facts about email usage, as it highlights the impact of digital communication on our psyche (Science Direct).

On the other hand, this growing obsession for checking our inboxes is not just a behavioral pattern. Turns out that emails lose their relevance very quickly. After 24 hours, the likelihood of an email being opened drops to just 1%. This astonishing fact about email is something to bear in mind for businesses, as in this case, the rule better late than never is unfortunately not the case (Atmail).

Spammed by Pentagon: About the importance of checking email spelling

Finally, another fun fact about email, which proves that some of the most drastic mistakes are made with a serious face, comes from the world of government. In 2000, the Pentagon accidentally included a British schoolgirl named Claire McDonald on a top-secret email list. It took them four years (!) to realize the mistake, revealing some of the highly secured information to the world and even more surprising oversights in email confidentiality (BBC).

Marketing and Business Communication Trends

The power of email personalization

Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective digital marketing strategies. Personalization, such as including the recipient’s name in the subject line or body of the email, is a common tactic used to increase engagement. Personalized emails can create a sense of connection between brands and consumers, making them more likely to be opened and acted upon (International Journal of Management & Entrepreneurship Research).

Mastering the perfect email timing for maximum engagement

One of the interesting facts about email marketing is the importance of timing. The best times to send marketing emails are between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM EST, with Tuesdays promising the highest engagement rates. On the other hand, sending emails late at night or early on Sundays tends to result in poor performance, as people are less likely to engage during these less active times (HubSpot).

Email frequency formula for B2B and B2C success

Conversion rates are also influenced by email frequency. For B2C campaigns, sending emails every two weeks tends to be promising in terms of the highest conversion rates, while B2B campaigns perform better when emails are sent once a month. This useful insight into email marketing frequency is a useful reminder that more is not always better and that overcommunication can, in fact, lead to less satisfactory results (First Page Sage).

Cybersecurity and Email Threats

On the dark side of email

By bringing convenience and efficiency to communication, email did so also for cybercriminals. Every day Google blocks approximately 100 million phishing emails that attempt to deceive users into sharing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links (AAG IT).

Imposter syndrome: Email phishing impact on business

This trend of brand impersonation in phishing attacks is a growing concern for businesses and individuals alike, with some big names being particularly targeted. Thus, in 2022, LinkedIn was the most imitated brand in phishing attempts, followed by DHL, Google, Microsoft, and FedEx. Additionally, 96% of organizations reported experiencing at least one phishing attack in 2021, with 52% of these attacks noted for being increasingly sophisticated (AAG IT).

Spam nation: How junk emails find their way to inboxes and dictionaries

Spam is another significant issue when it comes to emails. As of 2023, nearly 45.6% of all emails sent globally were classified as spam. While this represents a decline from 49% in 2022, spam continues to clog inboxes (Statista). And that in spite of the constantly improving anti-spam filters and adoption of the CAN-SPAM Act as a law in 2004. In fact, spam became such an inseparable and even normal part of our everyday lives that it was included in the Oxford dictionary in 1998 (Zerobounce). 

The most spammed man in the world

Spam emails are annoying and even malicious without a doubt, and we hate getting them. Nonetheless, when you complain next time about your inbox being clogged with spammy content, think about Bill Gates. The Microsoft co-founder is reported to receive around 4 million spam emails every day, which makes him perhaps the most spam-targeted person in the world (Porch Group Media).

To Sum Up

From its humble beginnings as a “QWERTYUIOP” message in 1971, email has evolved into one of the most dominant communication mediums as well as a leading tool for modern marketing. Its wide demographic coverage, popularity among both B2B and B2C businesses, and even never fading interest of cybercriminals towards email as a source of potential gain—are all signs of email growing popularity among people and businesses of all kinds.  

The fun facts about email we’ve explored in this article also highlight its vast impact—from space missions to politics. As email usage continues to grow, understanding its behavioral patterns, marketing potential, and security risks becomes similarly important. Whether for personal use, business communication, or digital marketing, email still remains one of the most effective tools that is to stay with us for a long, long time.