The Real Deal. SOS is the common description for the International Morse Code distress signal, consisting of a series of three-dits, three-dahs, three-dits (· · · - - - · · · ) in a continuous sequence, "to be repeated by a ship in distress until all other stations have stopped working". This distress signal ("Notzeichen") was first adopted by the German government in radio regulations effective April 1, 1905, and became the worldwide standard when it was included in the second International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which became effective on July 1, 1908. Morse's original code specification developed in the mid-1840s was largely limited to use in the United States (the first public message, "What hath God wrought.?", was sent on May 24, 1844), and thereafter became known as American Morse Code or "railroad code". Its use is now nearly extinct, although it is seen in American railroad museums and used in U.S. Civil War re-enactments.
