Famous transmitted messages

ruzuzu I just read this on Wikipedia:

"The coelacanths, which are related to lungfishes and tetrapods, were believed to have been extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period. More closely related to tetrapods than even the ray-finned fish, coelacanths were considered the 'missing link' between the fish and the tetrapods until the first Latimeria specimen was found off the east coast of South Africa, off the Chalumna River (now Tyalomnqa) in 1938. Museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered the fish among the catch of a local fisher, Captain Hendrick Goosen, on December 23, 1938. A local chemistry professor, JLB Smith, confirmed the fish's importance with a famous cable: 'MOST IMPORTANT PRESERVE SKELETON AND GILLS = FISH DESCRIBED'." Dec 23, 2011

ruzuzu If question marks were allowed, I'd add "?" and "!" to this list.

Edit: I added !. Apr 14, 2011

chained_bear *still loves this list* Jun 9, 2009

jfk Unable to restrain myself...subscribing to the broad concept. Jun 9, 2009

chained_bear You know, I was actually discussing the possible criteria for inclusion with my SO just now, and I think the same kind of limitation applies to the messages I suggested. What's to prevent the list from being flooded with "famous" passages of letters, or speeches, etc.? So I'll restrain myself from posting the Marathon messenger's (spoken) message or "Nuts!" (even though I really love it). :) But thanks for considering it.

If my new additions don't meet your criteria (after adding them I thought "gee, they sound like quotations..."), feel free to delete! Jun 5, 2009

qroqqa Peccavi, being a single word, would be ideal; 'tis pity it's a fraud. Jun 5, 2009

pterodactyl Hi c_b! My concept for this list is very broad, and also rather vague, so feel free to include both of your examples.

I guess the only thing I don't want to see is quotations that happened to have been transmitted, but aren't really "messages". Everything's transmitted these days, so including them all would flood the list with every famous line since the start of the Information Age. So, for example, you can't add "Ask not what your country would do for you, ask what you can do for your country", even though it was certainly transmitted. It's a quotation, not a message. Jun 5, 2009

reesetee Great list, ptero! Jun 5, 2009

chained_bear Me too! Cool!

A question for you, ptero: by "transmitted" do you mean only through some technological means? Or is "carried by messenger" okay too? In the first case, something like the Marathon messenger's "We were victorious!" would not be acceptable, but in the second, it would. Also General Anthony McAuliffe's "To the German commander: Nuts! The American commander." But these were plain messages, either spoken or on paper.

Edit: Sorry, I couldn't resist after fbharjo added the dots and dashes! I know it borks Wordie... Jun 5, 2009

Prolagus I can't wait for this list to grow. Jun 5, 2009