A form of long-distance communication, which used electricity to send and receive messages.

Morse's First Telegraph Instrument

A form of long-distance communication, which used electricity to send and receive messages.

An artist and an inventor, born in Charlestown, Mass., April 27, 1791; died in New York City, April 2, 1872.

Samuel Morse

An artist and an inventor, born in Charlestown, Mass., April 27, 1791; died in New York City, April…

Samuel Morse explaining his telegraph to members of Congress.  Morse made his last trip to Washington, D.C., in December 1842, stringing "wires between two committee rooms in the Capitol, and sent messages back and forth" to demonstrate his telegraph system.

Samuel Morse

Samuel Morse explaining his telegraph to members of Congress. Morse made his last trip to Washington,…

"The machine itself is sufficiently simple, and will be comprehended at once, by those who have made electro-magnetic experiments, by the annexed diagram and description. The temporary magnet a, enveloped with its insulated copper wire, is fastened to the wooden frame b, g, by means of cords or otherwise. The frame also supports the standard h, which sustains the revolving drum f, on which the paper to receive the emblematical alphabet is fixed, m being the edge of the paper. To the arm g, is appended the lever c, of wood, which has a slight vertical motion, in one direction by the steel spring d, and in the other, by the armature of soft iron e." —Comstock, 1850

Morses Telegraph

"The machine itself is sufficiently simple, and will be comprehended at once, by those who have made…

telegraph, morse, wireless

Wireless Telegraph Station

telegraph, morse, wireless

Samuel F. B. Morse's original model of the telegraph insrument.

Telegraph

Samuel F. B. Morse's original model of the telegraph insrument.

A telegraph in which the letters of the alphabet or figures are placed on a circular plate in such a manner that they can be brought to succession to an opening, or indicated in sucession in some other way, as by a pointer.

Disc Telegraph

A telegraph in which the letters of the alphabet or figures are placed on a circular plate in such a…

"The Morse register is represented [here]. The armature, A , is supported at the end of a lever, and over the cores of the magnet bobbins, M. A spring, S, lifts the armature when the cores are demagnetized on the breaking of the circuit by the operator at the key. When A is pulled down by M, a style or pencil at P is pressed against R, a paper ribbon that is drawn along by clock work. this style may be made to record upon the paper a dot-and-dash communication sent by the operator at a key, perhaps hundreds of miles away." -Avery 1895

Morse Telegraph Register

"The Morse register is represented [here]. The armature, A , is supported at the end of a lever, and…