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Other Innovations by Samuel Morse
The images here represent a small portion from the Information Age: People, Information & Technology
exhibition at the National Museum of American History.
Samuel Morse's original telegraph transmitter and receiver, 1837.
Today's information age began with the telegraph. It was the first instrument to
transform information into electrical form and transmit it reliably over long
distances. The original Morse telegraph did not use a key and sounder. Instead it was
a device designed to print patterns at a distance. The transmitter, in front, had code
slugs shaped in hills and valleys. These represented the more familiar dots and
dashes of Morse code. These patterns were printed at a distance by the receiver
(shown in the rear). It recreated the hills and valleys as the arm was pulled back and
forth by an electro-magnet, which was responding to the signals sent by the
transmitter. Morse developed a key and sounder for his first commercial telegraph in
1844.
--Smithsonian Photo #89-22161 by Laurie Minor-Penland.
Morse/Vail telegraph key, 1844. This key was used to send
the message "What Hath God Wrought" on the experimental line between
Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland. --Smithsonian Photo by Alfred
Harrell.
Morse/Vail telegraph register, 1844. This register was used
to receive the message "What Hath God Wrought" on the experimental line between
Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland. --Smithsonian Photo by Alfred
Harrell.
Back to:
Occupationals
Online Exhibitions |
Helios | SAAM Home
Samuel Morse's original telegraph transmitter and receiver, 1837.
Today's information age began with the telegraph. It was the first instrument to
transform information into electrical form and transmit it reliably over long
distances. The original Morse telegraph did not use a key and sounder. Instead it was
a device designed to print patterns at a distance. The transmitter, in front, had code
slugs shaped in hills and valleys. These represented the more familiar dots and
dashes of Morse code. These patterns were printed at a distance by the receiver
(shown in the rear). It recreated the hills and valleys as the arm was pulled back and
forth by an electro-magnet, which was responding to the signals sent by the
transmitter. Morse developed a key and sounder for his first commercial telegraph in
1844.
