30 years of SPAM

SPAM turns 30 today, May 1.
The date comes from the fact that the first known SPAM was sent on May 1, 1978.

The first spam was sent using SNDMSG, a program that had limited room for entering the TO and CC addresses, as well as the Subject. Since the person who sent it was not trained in the use of SNDMSG, he started typing addresses, overflowed the area for recipients and ended up typing many addresses into the body of the message, so many of the recipients never actually got the message.

The message was an invitation to attend a DEC demonstration for ARPANET members on the West Coast. The interesting part is the reaction of the people who got this email, the same one we would have today. Yet SPAM had one defender, and it was none other than Richard Stallman, who had not received the mail in question but could not help jumping into the discussion that broke out over it. Days later, on receiving a copy, he changed his position.

The 1978 SPAM and the discussion that followed can be read on Brad Templeton’s site.

The origin of the term SPAM

The term SPAM was first used in 1993, and it comes from a line in a Monty Python sketch:

Because in the sketch the word SPAM is repeated over and over in an annoying way, just as SPAMs do.

You can watch the video of that famous sketch on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7uFntk0Bnk

SPAM is canned ground pork.