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ISSUE 101– STEVE KOVACS FUN WITH MAPS

DAILY FEATURE: By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (November 3, 2020) – In Issue 101 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps is an attempt to teach us Morse Code?

SOS

Let’s talk about SOS – no, not the Abba song — rather the international distress signal.  In Morse code it is  . . .  – – – . . .   (Dot, Dot, Dot, dash, dash, dash, Dot, Dot, Dot) with “S” being  . . . and you can figure out “O.”

SOS was adopted in 1906 on this day at International Radiotelegraph Conference in Berlin, after the Germans started using it for maritime distress signal a year earlier.

Interestingly, SOS is not an abbreviation for anything, contrary to common beliefs, such as “Save our Souls” or “Save our Ship.”

I suspect about half of the US will signal SOS after today…

Here is a lovely double hemisphere world map by Elwe from 1792.  Calmer times.     

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.