SOS turns 100 years :

Happy Birthday SOS!

"SOS", the distress signal that saved thousands of lives, turned 100 on 1st. July,2008.

"SOS", which is commonly used description for the international morse code distress signal containing three dots, three dashes and three more dots (... --- ...), was first adopted by the German government in the radio regulations on April 1905.

It became the worldwide standard when it was included in the II International Radiographic Convention which was signed on 3rd.November, 1906, and became effective from 1st. July, 1908.

The call actually became famous when one of the radio operators of the ill-fated Titanic had supposedly said to his colleague: "Send SOS". The tragedy revealed just how vital a universal system was. They soon learn otherwise, as international headlines told how Jack Phillips, Titanic's first radio operator, and 1,500 others had been lost along with the "unsinkable" ship.The new "SOS" distress signal was rarely ignored after that.

Of course, technology has moved on dramatically since 1908 and only very occasionally are the telltale dots and dashes that have saved countless lives employed today.

So, it seems "SOS" is the safe for 21st. Century too...........