Morse Code: Significant Invention During The Middle-19th Century

Morse code
Aidan Pease
Freshmen English/world history
Mrs. Bisenius
February 5, 2017
.... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. Morse code was a significant invention during the middle 19th century but why was it important, who made it, how does it work, and is it still used today.

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American artist and inventor widely known for his invention of the single wire telegraph and co-inventor of Morse code. Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts April 27 1791. Samuel got most of his education from the Yale University of Boston. On February 1825, after giving birth to their third child, Lucretia (Samuel’s wife) passed away. Morse was on his way home from working when he heard his wife was very ill, and by the time he
arrived at his house Lucretia has already been buried. The year following his father clergyman Jedidiah Morse passed away, three years after his father’s death, his mother Elisabeth Finley Morse (Breese) passed away as well. Full of grief Samuel went to Europe to recover from his losses. In 1832 Samuel met the inventor Charles Thomas Jackson, the two got together to discuss about how an electronic impulse can be carried across a wire for a long distances. After researching the works of joseph hennery, Samuel developed a prototype of the telegraph. In 1836, others in Europe have been working on make a device with the same intentions, from his knowledge there has been no operational telegraph yet. On May 24, 1844 Samuel hooked up a line between New York, New York and Baltimore, Maryland to send the very first message. Samuel taped in the code,. -- .... .- - / .... .- - .... / --. --- -.. / .-- .-. --- ..- --. .... – this translated to be “what hath god wrought”. Nearly 28 years after his invention he passed on April 2, 1872 from pneumonia at the age of 81 Morse code is a pattern of “dots” and “dashes” associating letters from the English alphabet.
The most the most used letters are given shorter sequences of dots and dashes. For example, m the most common letter used in the English language (E) is represented by a single dot. The first telegraphs made clicking sounds as they marked the moving paper. Eventually these papers became unnecessary because operators learned it as a language instead of reading of a page of paper. These codes were sent through a single wire, because radio waves were not made for another 30 years. There are multiple advantages of Morse code because it is for communication and faster than sending a letter to someone. Morse code is fairly cheap price to use only about 25 cents for 10 words or less. The system is only a single cord for communication so it doesn’t get any interference. But, when there is advantages there is disadvantages, Morse code is very time consuming to use. You would have to learn Morse code by the sound of the clicks to be better at it. Morse code was a great way for sending distress signals from boats equipped with radio waves. For example, the biggest boat, titanic, used Morse code to call for rescue ships in order to save as much as possible. Sometimes people would use it in prison to talk to another in secret. Sometimes the use it in popular shows like the walking
dead. Short signals are referred as ditz represent (dots). Long signals are referred as dahs represent (dashes). The speed of transmitting words is called wpm (words per minute). Over time an operator’s wpm would increase by their skills increasing. Morse code is widely recognized but not as widely as it once was. Morse code is still used for amateur radio enthusiasts. It is no longer a requirement to gain an amateur radio license. Morse code is still used today in aviation and aeronautical fields. The navy sometimes use Morse code via spotlights and other light sources. There has been several cases of people using their eyelids to communicate in Morse code by a series of long and short blinks to represent dots and dashes. Sometimes people use Morse code by a language by using their vocal cords to mimic dots and dashes. During the 1830s the telegraph was improved by one of Samuel’s assistant Alfred Vail.
Soon after the telegraphs primer in Europe it became that the original Morse code was insufficient of transmissions of non-English text. To fix this Alfred Vail created the international Morse code. The two machines were very alike but however the international Morse code was simpler and more precise. For example, the original Morse code a pattern of dots and dashes to represent some of the letters. The international Morse code uses combinations of dots and dashes to represent all letters. Including, the international Morse code uses dashes of consistent length rather than variations of lengths used in the original
codes.

Hello World (.... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -..) In conclusion Morse code was a crucial part of history that helped make communication easier. Samuel Morse committed his life to Morse code to help make communication faster and simpler. With the help of Morse code hundreds of lives were saved on the titanic and other ships that sunk. It has been improved by Alfred Vail to make it even simpler. And how it works by using electronic pulses.