The Telephone

I bet you’re wondering what Morse code and the telegraph are, huh? Well read on to find out!

The telegraph was a very popular way to send messages before the invention of the telephone. The telegraph was the first invention that used wires and electric current to send messages. Before the electrical telegraph, there was the optical (by sight) telegraph. Two examples of an optical telegraph are smoke signals and ship flags. The electrical telegraph was a very important part of communication between the mid-1800’s and mid-1900’s.

Samuel F. B. Morse is given credit for being the first inventor to make a practical telegraph. In 1832, Samuel Morse (1791-1872) thought about creating an electromagnetic telegraph while returning home to the United States from Europe on a ship. Other people were also working on their own ideas for telegraphs. Morse came up with the idea of using an electromagnet. An electromagnet has an iron center that briefly becomes magnetized when electricity flows through a wire wrapped around it. In 1840, along with his assistant Alfred Vail, Morse patented a system using “keyed and sounded.” By turning off and on the electricity with a “key” or switch at one end, a clicking noise was made at the other end or “receiving Telegraph key sounder.” This clicking noise was a strip of metal clanking against the magnetized wire. Dots and dashes were printed on a small strip of paper. The pattern of these sounds or marks made words and “Morse code” was developed.

Morse code is a code that is made up of dots, dashes, and spaces. They represent the alphabet and the numerals from 1 to 10. If you are listening, a short sound (a quick click) is called a dit; a long sound is a dah (which keeps going for about two seconds). When written, a dot is a dit and a dash is a dah. The most used letters are the easiest to type. For example, the letter E is one dot and a T is one dash. A message sent over wires stretched across land was called a telegram. A message was called a cablegram, or simply a cable, if it was sent through cables laid underwater. To translate your messages in Morse code visit our Morse Code Translator page.

Morse’s first message sent on telegraph wires between cities was, “What hath God wrought!” sent on May 24, 1844 from Washington DC to Baltimore.

Today, the telegraph and Morse code are rarely used. They've been replaced by the telephone, e-mail, and other forms of communication that can transmit information at a faster rate. There are some telegraph services that still exist, but they send messages in a different manner. Now the messages are sent using computers, and the messages are sent over fiber-optic cable, radio, satellites, and other means of transmission.

Samuel F. B. Morse created a code that no one else had. I think that’s pretty special!

Citations

Online Resources

" History of Samuel F.B. Morse." Locust Grove. 3 November 2004 <http://www.morsehistoricsite.org/history/hist.html>.

" The History of Telegraphy." Transatlantic Cable. 3 November 2004 <http://collections.ic.gc.ca/cable/htelegr.htm>.

"International Morse Code - A Brief History." QSL.Net. 3 November 2004 <http://www.qsl.net/4f5aww/module3a.htm>.

"Morse code." World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. 4 Feb. 2005. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar372360>.

"Optical Telegraph." The FreeDictionary.com. 3 November 2004 <http://encyclopidia.thefreedictionary.com/optical%20telegraph>.

"Telegraph." American Inventors & Inventions. 5 November 2004 <http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/r819.htm>.

Images

Photographs of Samuel Morse and telegraph key have been released into the public domain under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>.

Copyrighted clip art of Morse code keys from "Microsoft Office Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us&cag=1> (October-March, 2004-2005). Clip art available only to licensed users for non-commercial purposes.