July 4, 2023 was the 80th anniversary of WTIC's signature time tone. It was first heard at 12 Noon on July 4, 1943. Irwin Cowper, later Vice President of TV Sales, had the idea for the Morse Code three dots and a dash. Leonard Patricelli took it a step further by putting the tones to the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The V for Victory tone, first heard during World War II, has been heard every hour since then, and for many years on WTIC Ch. 3.

The last and longest tone is synchronized to mark the hour exactly. WTIC engineers have constructed four versions of the equipment that produces the tones. The present version is synched by GPS to insure the last tone is accurate as possible.

Thanks to Morgan Cunningham, News Anchor of WTIC, and Robert Paine, listener, for their assistance in this news item.