Morse Code and the Telegraph.

Morse Code was invented by Samuel F. B. Morse. He found a way to make an electric current send signals instead of using signals or written messages. Many people had tried before Samuel Morse, but had not succeeded. Morse did not have to knowledge about electric currents to stop trying to find a way. Morse decided to try to make an "electric telegraph" to send messages. Morse devoted five years in making the telegraph instrument that would work properly. It took another year to persuade Congress that his telegraph worked and that they should develop the first line. When he was developing the electric telegraph, he made money and supported himself by giving painting lessons. In 1843, Congress finally pledged $30,000. When Morse received the money, he put a telegraph line in from Baltimore stretching to Washington. He sent his first message on May 24 "What hath God wrought?". Morse, along with his two partners, had created a telegraph network that went from Main to South Carolina and west to St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Chicago, all by 1848. Newspaper columns provided updated news about the electric telegraph that Samuel Morse had created. A man by the name of Cyrus W. Field had an idea for a telegraph line to go from America to Europe. A company was formed to do the task, and after many years and many failures, a line lying on the bottom of the ocean was successfully finished in 1858. It stretched from America to England, and soon telegraph messages were sent to and from the countries. The line failed within a matter of weeks. A line was not again laid until 1866 due to the Civil War.


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