'The beginning of the long dash'

From CBC this morning, a feature on the 75th anniversary of the National Research Council’s official time signal.
Like Heritage Minutes, I feel like the long dash is one of those insidiously important parts of our culture. Despite having direct access to the official time via my cellphone and computer, I still listen for the long dash to make sure I actually have it right. It’s a sort of secret handshake among Canadians, given meaning by virtue of being broadcast day after day for seventy-five years.
Bonus: listen to the one of the first editions of the long dash, thanks to the CBC Digital Archives. Update: I’m told it’s from 1974.