On May 24, 1844, Samuel F. B. Morse dispatched the first morse code telegraphic message over an experimental line from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. Morse and a close friend, Alfred Vail, developed the Morse Code language in 1838.
The message said: “What hath God wrought?” Taken from the Bible, Numbers, Chapter 23, Verse 23, and recorded on a paper tape, the phrase had been suggested to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the young daughter of a friend. The success of the experiment would change forever the national communication system.
Samuel Finley Breeze Morse
Morse was also well respected for his paintings of people, like the self-portrait on the previous screen and this one of Mrs. David C. De Forest. He painted his subjects with honesty and insight. It was while returning from Europe to take his position as an arts professor at New York University that Morse came up with the idea of a communications system using the electro-magnet and a series of relays through a network of telegraph stations. In order to transmit messages in this system, he invented Morse Code, an alphabet of electronic dots and dashes. The system made communication across the country faster than ever.
Communication Revolution
After his first public demonstration of the telegraph in January of 1838, Morse started a communication revolution. Within a decade, there were more than 20,000 miles of telegraph wire in the United States.
Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861. This doomed the Pony Express, but aidedforces in the Civil War. Mobile telegraph stations, with hastily strung wires, connected scattered military units. President Lincoln kept up with events of the war through frequent dispatches from General George McClellan.
By 1866 a transatlantic line ran from the United States to Europe.
The Merdes Law Firm has been helping injured Alaskans for more than 30 years. It’s who we are. And while we hope you never need us … We’re here if you do. ~ Ward Merdes
Sources: Library of Congress, Brittannica, America’s Story
Image Source: Historical Marker Database
