Dear Friends of FITS,

I consider March 28th to be the birthday for FITS, because it was on
March 28, 1979, that Eric Greisen and I completed the Basic FITS
Agreement. FITS is 30 years old today. In 1992, 17 years ago, I posted
a Happy Birthday announcement for FITS to FITSBITS, because the format
was a teenager, 13 years old that year. In that announcement message I
gave my version of the early history and pre-history of FITS.
Subscribers to FITSBITS who have never read that document should view
this URL:
http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/birthday.news

It is a great source of satisfaction for me to be a part of the
worldwide community of people who created this wonderful thing we call FITS.

Regards,
Don Wells (retired astronomer living in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA)