Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born on 27 April 1791 in Charlestown. An American inventor and painter, Morse was a successful portrait artist before turning to the study of electricity. Working with Alfred Vail, he developed an electric telegraph and a code of dots and dashes, later known as Morse code, to send messages over wires. In 1844 he sent the first message on a line from Washington to Baltimore, what hath God wrought. The telegraph quickly spread across the United States and the world, changing communications. He fought long patent disputes with rivals, and he also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York as a nativist.
Before and after
- c. 1791Publication of The Magic Flute
- 1791Discovery of titanium
- 1791Brandenburg Gate
- 23 April 1791Birth of James Buchanan
- 27 April 1791Birth of Samuel Finley Breese Morse
- 3 May 1791Constitution of May 3, 1791
- from 14 August 1791 to 1 January 1804Haitian Revolution
- 22 September 1791Birth of Michael Faraday
- 5 December 1791Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.