Maydays in May: 3 American Distress Signals

Conceived as a radio distress signal for airplane pilots and ship captains, "mayday" (the phonetic equivalent of "m'aidez," the French word for "help me") was officially adopted by the United States in 1927. The convention requires that "mayday" be repeated three times in the initial declaration, followed by a call sign, a description of the nature of the emergency and the vessel's present position or its last known position if lost.