Inventions
The Telegraph
Also Known As Electrical Telegraph
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The electrical telegraph sends coded pulses of electric current along a wire to a receiver that converts them back into text, the first technology to separate the speed of communication from the speed of physical transport. Working systems were patented in 1837 both in the United States and in Britain, and the technology spread rapidly along railway lines and, from 1866, across the Atlantic Ocean by submarine cable.
Facts
Disputed
YearSamuel Morse in the United States and William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in Britain each patented working electrical telegraph systems in 1837, developed independently and almost simultaneously. Morse system, paired with Morse code, became the dominant standard in the United States and eventually internationally, while the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph was first to see commercial railway use in Britain. Historians of technology treat the telegraph as a case of near simultaneous independent invention rather than a single point of origin. Patent or First-Use DateMorse's first public long-distance message, "What hath God wrought," sent from Washington to Baltimore, May 24, 1844. SignificanceThe telegraph compressed messages that had taken days or weeks to travel into minutes, and laid the technical and institutional groundwork for the telephone, radio and later electronic communication. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
In Field
Invented
Co-inventor, with William Fothergill Cooke, of the rival British telegraph system patented in May 1837, independently of Samuel Morse's American system.
Co-inventor, with Charles Wheatstone, of the rival British telegraph system patented in May 1837, independently of Samuel Morse's American system.
Invented By
Predecessor Of
Radio, Inventions Wired point to point telegraphy preceded wireless telegraphy as the first practical instantaneous long distance messaging technology.
Point-to-point electrical signaling by telegraph preceded and technically enabled the telephone's point-to-point voice circuit.
Sources
1. Technology: A World History
Daniel R. Headrick, Oxford University Press, 2009
Cooke and Wheatstone Telegraph (Wikipedia)
Cooke and Wheatstone Telegraph (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationHistory sectionQuote, History section
In May 1837 Cooke and Wheatstone patented a telegraph system that used a number of needles on a board that could be moved to point to letters of the alphabet.
Cooke and Wheatstone Telegraph (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationInvented: William Fothergill Cooke, Lead sectionQuote, Invented: William Fothergill Cooke, Lead section
In May 1837 Cooke and Wheatstone patented a telegraph system that used a number of needles on a board that could be moved to point to letters of the alphabet.
Cooke and Wheatstone Telegraph (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationInvented: Charles Wheatstone, Lead sectionQuote, Invented: Charles Wheatstone, Lead section
In May 1837 Cooke and Wheatstone patented a telegraph system that used a number of needles on a board that could be moved to point to letters of the alphabet.
Antonio Meucci (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationPredecessor Of: The Telephone, Early history sectionView the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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