EOTO Presentations

The Telegraph

    The telegraph was invented by a series of people including Samuel Morse in the 1830s and 1840s. It revolutionized long distance communication during this time and started filling the world with wires, like telephone poles that we see today. A lot of people helped in the development of the telegraph as it consists of many different parts. The most recognized inventors are from two different sets of researchers, one in England and one in the United States. The credit goes to Sir William Cooke and Sir Charles Wheatstone in England and Samuel Morse, Leonard Gale, and Alfred Vail in the United States. They all collectively worked together in doing research and using each other's research to invent the different parts needed to create the telegraph.    

    The first telegraph message was sent by Morse, who also invented the Morse Code, in 1844 from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. In 1866, a telegraph wire was laid across the Atlantic Ocean from the U.S. to Europe. This was a revolutionary invention because people were not only able to communicate to each other from different states, but also different countries. It was the basis of the communication revolution that led to other communication inventions we use today like telephones and the internet. Information was now able to be widespread across the world meaning easier communication between governments, allies, soldiers in war, and families. Before the telegraph, people used smoke signals or drum beats to communicate with further distances but these methods weren't reliable as the unpredictable weather could hinder the effects by interrupting the line of sight between the two points. Therefore, they needed a more reliable source of long distance communication and the telegraph was born. There was a downfall to the invention though. The successful use of the device required a system of telegraph stations for information to be transmitted and in the beginning, there was only one company that picked up this line of work. The Western Union Telegraph Company laid the first transcontinental telegraph line, making it the first nationwide telegraph company. Eventually, more companies picked up the line of work and all was well until the invention of the telephone overshadowed the popularity of the telegraph.