SOS
The first International Radiotelegraphic Conference was held in Berlin, Germany in 1903. At the time, Captain Quintino Bonomo, an Italian representative, discussed the need for common operating procedures. He also had the suggestion that "ships in distress... should send the signal SSS DDD at intervals of a few minutes", according to "The Wireless Telegraph Conference", in the November 27, 1903, issue of The Electrician. Question on how to do things were beyond the scope of the 1903 Conference. Although Article IV of the Conference's Final Protocol, signed August 13, 1903, said that "Wireless telegraph stations should unless practically impossible, give priority to calls for help received from ships at sea," no standard signal was adopted at the time.