SOS is a hundred years old

posted by Rob on June 12, 2009 04:06 PM

MorseCodeKey.jpg

Shamelessly and lazily lifted straight from BoingBoing:

The first ship to transmit an SOS distress call was the Cunard liner Slavonia on June 10, 1909, when it went aground on rocks off the Azores.

Prior to that, ships used a variety of distress calls, such as:

-.-. -.. --.-
= CDQ (subject to misunderstanding)

..- .... / --- .... / .-- . / .- .-. . / ... .. -. -.- .. -. --.
= UH OH WE ARE SINKING (much clearer)

.. / - .... .. -. -.- / .. / .... .. - / .- / --. --- -.. -.. .- -- -. / .. -.-. . -... . .-. --.
= I THINK I HIT A GODDAMN ICEBERG (No doubt at all here)

... .... .. .--. / -.-. .- .--. - .- .. -. / -....- / ..-. .- .. .-..
= SHIP CAPTAIN - FAIL!

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