MORSE SENDS FIRST TELEGRAPH MESSAGE OVER THE WIRES
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 24, 1844, American inventor Samuel Finley Breese Morse* sent the first telegraph message** from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland.
The text of the message, a quote from the book of Numbers in the Holy Bible, was suggested to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the daughter of the commissioner of patents.
The message was..."What hath God wrought?"
Morse sent the message from the the Supreme Court chamber in the basement of the United States Capitol Building in Washington to the B & O Mt. Clare Station in Baltimore.
The telegraph could transmit 30 letters per minute.
*Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was born in Boston. His father was a Calvinist preacher & supporter of the Federalist Party. SFBM graduated from Yale College & became a portrait painter. In addition to the invention of the telegraph, SFBM was co-developer of the Morse Code & helped develop the telegraph commercially.
**The first public demonstration of the telegraph, as described in the You Tube video below, came on January 11, 1838 at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, N.J. The demonstration was done by Samuel Morse & Alfred Vail & witnessed by a local crowd. The range of this demonstration was limited to 2 miles. The message sent was "A patient waiter is no loser."
Samuel F.B. Morse
Inventor of the Telegraph
Photo by Matthew Brady (1866)
Morse Plaque in Washington, D.C.
Photo by DB King
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 24, 1844, American inventor Samuel Finley Breese Morse* sent the first telegraph message** from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland.
The text of the message, a quote from the book of Numbers in the Holy Bible, was suggested to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the daughter of the commissioner of patents.
The message was..."What hath God wrought?"
Morse sent the message from the the Supreme Court chamber in the basement of the United States Capitol Building in Washington to the B & O Mt. Clare Station in Baltimore.
The telegraph could transmit 30 letters per minute.
*Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was born in Boston. His father was a Calvinist preacher & supporter of the Federalist Party. SFBM graduated from Yale College & became a portrait painter. In addition to the invention of the telegraph, SFBM was co-developer of the Morse Code & helped develop the telegraph commercially.
**The first public demonstration of the telegraph, as described in the You Tube video below, came on January 11, 1838 at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, N.J. The demonstration was done by Samuel Morse & Alfred Vail & witnessed by a local crowd. The range of this demonstration was limited to 2 miles. The message sent was "A patient waiter is no loser."
Samuel F.B. Morse
Inventor of the Telegraph
Photo by Matthew Brady (1866)
Morse Plaque in Washington, D.C.
Photo by DB King
