TODAY IS THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY of the first transatlantic TV transmission, via Telstar.

Which, by the way, is also the title of a very cool song by The Shadows, produced by music-tech-geek hero Joe Meek.

UPDATE: Oops. Reader Chuck Freund informs me that it was the Tornadoes, not the Shadows. He’s right, too. Well, I was in diapers at the time. . . .