Contrary to popular opinion, SOS (which has no stops between the letters, the signal being a continuous signal of three dots, three dashes and three dots) is not an acronym for any series of words such as Save Our Ship or Save Our Souls. The original call for distress began with the British CQ, meaning “All Stations”, used by telegraph and cable operators worldwide. The D for ’distress’ was added to CQ by the Marconi company in 1904. 

In 1906, at the Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference, the German’s general inquiry call, SOE, was suggested as an international distress signal. Changing the E to S gave the signal its unmistakeable character, and SOS was officially ratified as the international distress signal in 1908, although it was not officially adopted by the USA until 1912 (prompted by the Titanic tragedy). It is interesting to note that the Titanic’s radio operator sent Marconi’s CQD code six times before using the four-year-old international SOS signal some twenty minutes later ... as Marconi waited in NY to make the return trip to England on the ill-fated ship. 

Globe Wireless, a Louisiana company, began operation that same year, as rules and regulations following the sinking of the Titanic included the requirement that all ships carry equipment capable of sending and receiving Morse code messages over VHF radio frequencies. On July 12, 1999, Globe Wireless broadcast its last Morse code message to ships, five months after Morse code was no longer an internationally acceptable form of communication for ships at sea. Globe’s was the last service of its kind in North America. 

Morse code and its SOS signal began its demise in the 1960s as faster more efficient forms of transmission became available. Today, most ships use mobile phones, fax machines, and e-mail to communicate. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety system, which uses the satellite-based Global Positioning System, is now the internationally accepted manner in which to transmit a ship’s exact location and problem ... instantly. 

In comparison, SOS and other Morse code transmissions which were the high tech methods of 1909, were “very slow, unreliable ... if you’re lucky, you can send 25 words a minute”, stated Globe Wireless Manager Karl Halvorsen. His and other similar companies around the world now provide the instant message services to ships that are used on land. 

SOS ...---... Morse code is sinking. 
1909
Liner "Arapahoe" is 1st ship to use SOS distress call
1909
SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC
1909
Warren Bardsley (136 & 130) 1st to get twin tons in a Test

 1925 - Carl Rowan
journalist: NBC News, Chicago Daily News; author: Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall, Breaking Barriers, Wait Till Next Year, Go South in Sorrow, South of Freedom; director: U.S. Information Agency; U.S. Ambassador to Finland; died Sep 23, 2000, geboren
1925, geboren
Carl Rowan, gun-toting newspaper columnist (Wash Post), geboren
1925, geboren
Mike Douglas, Chicago Ill, talk show host (Mike Douglas Show), geboren
1925, geboren
Robert Linn, composer, geboren

 1942 - Mike Hugg
musician: drums: groups: Chapter Three, Manfred Mann: 5-4-3-2-1, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Oh No Not My Baby, If You Gotta Go Go Now, Just like a Woman, The Mighty Quinn, Pretty Flamingo, Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James, geboren

 1942 - Otis Taylor
football: Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver: UPI AFC Player of the Year [1971]: Super Bowl I, IV, geboren
1942, gestorben
Richard Heinrich Stein, composer, dies at 60, gestorben
1942, geboren
Mike Huggs, rock drummer (Manfred Mann) [or 3/11/40], geboren
Mike Hugg
drums, Manfred Mann, 1964 UK & US No.1 single 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy'., geboren

Denis Payton, rocker (Dave Clarke 5-Glad All Over), geboren

James Kale, rocker (Guess Who), geboren

Kenny Gamble, US songwriter (Me & Mrs Jones), geboren

Krzysztof Meyer, composer, geboren

 1943 - Guy Vallari
singer: group: Regents: Barbara Ann, geboren
Denny Payten
sax, Dave Clark Five, 1964 UK No.1 single 'Glad All Over', plus over 15 other UK top 40 singles., geboren

1971 - Republican New York mayor John Lindsay had a change of political heart as he made the switch from the GOP to the Democratic party. 
1971
Construction begins on Louisiana Superdome
1971
Harmon Killebrew hits HRs #500 & 501

Marcus Le Bov (27), Filmschaffende/R, geboren
1973 - Karl Ziegler, deutscher Chemiker und Nobelpreisträger, geb. 1898, gestorben
Peggie Castle (45), Filmschaffende/R, gestorben
Jay Rescher (80), Filmschaffende/R, gestorben
1973 Peggy Castle actress (Lily Merrill-Lawman), dies at 46 , gestorben
1973, gestorben
Peggy Castle, actress (Lily Merrill-Lawman), dies of cirrhosis at 46, gestorben
1973, geboren
Edgardo Alfonzo, Sta Teresa Venezuela, infielder (NY Mets), geboren
1973, geboren
Thomas Haskins, CFL running back (Montreal Alouettes), geboren

1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, “...I have signed legislation that will outlaw Russia. We begin bombing in five minutes.“ The remark was made during a time when technicians had the microphone open and the President didn’t think he was being heard. He was just jesting as he was testing. Funny, actually, that this could happen to ‘Dutch’ Reagan -- a former radio sportscaster for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa and other radio stations -- not to mention TV and film. The remark, literally, bombed ... though nothing more serious happened. 
1984
101,799 fans at soccer match Brazili‰-France
1984
Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olym track golds
1984
Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench's #5 uniform
1984
During a radio voice test Pres Reagan joked he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes"
1984
Men's choir Maranatha Netherlands forms
1984
USSR performs (underground) nuclear test