Spam celebrates its 30th birthday

It's not quite as historic as the day that Alexander Graham Bell beckoned Watson over the telephone, or Marconi dashed and dotted tones across the Atlantic, but the now omni present scourge of Internet in boxes everywhere is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its creation.

Spam, the annoying flotsam of the world wide web came into being in this world on May 3, 1978 when 400 computer users received the first mass marketing message from Gary Thuerk of DEC computers. An intrusion into the then young days of the Internet that was met with less than a warm reception from the unlucky 400.

DEC has long since faded from the computer world, just another company lost in the gold rush of the information highway, but it's creation has lived on through the years, estimated by one computer security company as making up close to 95 per cent of all the mail we receive, spam has become the curse of anyone who neglects their inbox for more than a couple of hours.

BBC World-- Spam reaches 30-year anniversary
Seattle Post Intelligencer-- No party for this birthday: Spam's 30
Washington Post-- Three cheers for delete
Information week-- Spam Turns 30 And Never Looked Healthier
Yahoo.Tech-- Spam turning 30 this month; no gifts, please