Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer of Morse code in 1837 and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy.
Morse in 1866
Birthplace of Morse, Charlestown, Massachusetts, c. 1898 photo
Self-portrait of Morse in 1812 (National Portrait Gallery)
Jonas Platt, New York politician, by Morse. Oil on canvas, 1828, Brooklyn Museum.
Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems called telegraphs, that were devised to communicate text messages more quickly than physical transportation. Electrical telegraphy can be considered to be the first example of electrical engineering.
Cooke and Wheatstone's five-needle telegraph from 1837
Morse Telegraph
Hughes telegraph, an early (1855) teleprinter built by Siemens and Halske
Sömmering's electric telegraph in 1809