→Subscribe for new videos every day! https://www.youtube.com/user/TodayIFoundOut?sub_confirmation=1 →How "Dick" came to be short for 'Richard': https://youtu.be/BH1NAwwKtcg?list=PLR0XuDegDqP2Acy6g9Ta7hzC0Rr3RDS6q Never run out of things to say at the water cooler with TodayIFoundOut! Brand new videos 7 days a week! More from TodayIFoundOut Why We Say "O'Clock" https://youtu.be/2YKrILmZz7E?list=PLR0XuDegDqP3-uys3Rl2dvdsFkk96zRbt Why “Colonel” is Pronounced “Kernel” https://youtu.be/7opCZv6JqnU?list=PLR0XuDegDqP3-uys3Rl2dvdsFkk96zRbt In this video: In 1923, a senior radio officer, Frederick Stanley Mockford, in Croydon Airport in London, England was asked to think of one word that would be easy to understand for all pilots and ground staff in the event of an emergency. Want the text version?: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/01/planes-ships-used-word-mayday-distress/ Sources: http://www.marine-knowledge.com/marine-safety/mayday-distress-signal.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayday http://www.thelinguafile.com/2013/05/the-etymology-of-mayday-and-voice.html http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mayday http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_93 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-pan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Stanley_Mockford