Spam - Did you know this concept started in the late 1800s?

While the unwanted email threat called "spam" dates back to 1978, there were tempting message solicitations sent back in the late 1800's by telegraph.  These email messages are no different than junk faxes, telemarketing calls, or junk postal mail from the past.
 
Today, it is estimated that 70-80% of all email sent is spam. These messages can range from safe sales solicititions to messages that contain dangerous malware infected attachments or URLs.  The best advice is always delete any unwanted email message without opening it.  If the offer seems too good to be true, in almost all cases it will be

History of Spam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_spamming

Early "Telegram" Spam sample - Doc Brown's Elixir of Vitality 50% off
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Telegraphspam.png

QUOTE: In the late 19th Century Western Union allowed telegraphic messages on its network to be sent to multiple destinations. Up until the Great Depression wealthy North American residents would be deluged with nebulous investment offers. This problem never fully emerged in Europe to the degree that it did in the Americas, because telegraphy was regulated by national post offices in the European region.

Earliest electronic spam sent in 1978 by DEC Marketer
http://www.templetons.com/brad/spam/spam25.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/spamreact.html

QUOTE: That first spam was sent by a marketer for DEC - Digital Equipment Corporation. Today, you may not know DEC, since it was bought by Compaq and is now a unit of HP, but in those days it was the leading minicomputer maker, and its computers provided the platform for the development of Unix, C and much of the internet, to cite just a few minor events.

Spam - The current threat
http://www.postini.com/stats/index.php
http://www.messagelabs.com/intelligence.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spam