The Origins of the Telegraph
During the late 1830s, it seemed as though people were struggling to communicate with one another at large distances. However, Sir William Cooke and Sir Charles Wheatstone soon realized that it may be beneficial to invent a brand new communication device. That very device was called the telegraph and is still very well known today.
The first telegraph that was ever created was called a “needle telegraph” (1837), which featured several needle pointers that used electromagnetic principles to point at various letters on a triangular grid and spell out a message. These messages would be sent from one telegraph office (or telegraph station) to another through the electrical signals running through the connecting wires on utility poles.
Morse Code: The New Language
The morse telegraph (1838) was invented soon afterwards and deemed much more efficient. This telegraph is activated by tapping a “telegraph key” using a combination of dots (short taps) and dashes (long taps), which then sends out an electric pulse that makes a clicking sound at the receiving telegraph office.
The famous “dots and dashes” language was invented by a man named Samuel Morse, who assigned each letter of the alphabet a specific morse code combination. Samuel Morse created the code in such a way that made it easier for people to remember. Generally, commonly used letters were assigned a simple combination of dots and dashes, while letters that were used less commonly were assigned slightly more complex combinations. A great example of this is the internationally recognizable “SOS” distress symbol that originated because “S” in morse code is three dots, while “O” in morse code is three dashes.
Originally, the morse telegraph recorded each dot and dash mark on a piece of paper for the designated telegraph operator to translate. Later, it became evident that simply listening and recording the codes manually was much easier and more efficient, especially as the telegraph operator became more and more familiar with how to read the code.
Sources: “Electrical Telegraph.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_telegraph. History.com Editors. “Morse Code & the Telegraph.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph. “Telegraph.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/technology/telegraph.