This month saw the 39th anniversary of the world’s very first spam. It was written on May 1st, 1978 — and sent on May 3rd — by then 31-year-old Gary Thuerk, from Chicago. Young Thuerk had served as an officer in the Navy, and had written FORTRAN programs for IBM mainframes. After one year at Digital Equipment Corporation, he’d been promoted to marketing manager in 1976. And two years later, he seemed determined to make his mark with this missive:
“WE INVITE YOU TO COME SEE THE 2020 AND HEAR ABOUT THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AT THE TWO PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS WE WILL BE GIVING IN CALIFORNIA THIS MONTH…”
Yes, the whole message was capitalized. …
Read more at The New Stack
