1973 was a good year. A ceasefire ended U.S. ground troop involvement in Vietnam, Spiro T. Agnew resigned over Watergate, Secretariat won the Triple Crown, and "Sacheen Littlefeather" refused Marlon Brando’s Oscar for "The Godfather." Also, on April 3rd a brave soul named Martin Cooper (that’s him on the right) made the world’s first cellular phone call. With that thing in the picture. Walking through New York. How he managed not to be mugged before he hung up, I’ll never know.

Yesterday was the end of an era as the FCC shut down all analog cellular systems. Farewell, blocky boxes which were the height of cool in the early 90s. May you have a peaceful rest in the big tech trash heap in the sky. Keep the Betamaxes warm, and save some space for the HD-DVDs.

This is tough, all this changing and deactivating all the time. Next thing you know they’ll be turning off our analog TV.

via Digital Trends