What Did Samuel Morse Do?

While a professor of arts and design at New York University in 1835, Samuel Morse proved that written messages could be transmitted by electrical wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper - the invention of Morse Code.

The following year, the device was modified to emboss the paper with dots and dashes. He gave a public demonstration in 1838, but it was not until five years later that Congress (reflecting public apathy) funded $30,000 to construct an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles. Drawing Credit: Electric Telegraph Circuit Board by Mary Bellis

• Samuel Morse - Telegraph Patent, Sketchs & Paintings