Video: 'Hot Line Installed From Washington To Russia (1963)'

(Friday, August 30, 1963; during the Cold War) — The Moscow–Washington hotline, created in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis to reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, began operations today as the U.S. Department of Defense made a one-sentence announcement to the world press: “The direct communication link between Washington and Moscow is now operational.”

Video: '30th August 1963: Moscow-Washington hotline enters operation'

In the first message transmitted over the hotline, Washington sent Moscow the text: “THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG’S BACK 1234567890.”

The message was sent in all capital letters, since the equipment did not support lowercase.

Video: '3 Times the Nuclear Hotline Prevented War'

Although in popular culture it is known as the “red telephone”, the hotline was never a telephone line, and no red phones were used. The first implementation used Teletype equipment, and shifted to fax machines in 1986.

Since 2008, the Moscow–Washington hotline has been a secure computer link over which messages are exchanged by a secure form of email.