Telegraph

History of the Telegraph

  • Who invented the Telegraph

    Who invented the Telegraph
    In 1843 a guy named Samuel Morse created the first ever telegraph. The first message sent wasn't sent until the following year on May 24, 1844.
  • Telegraph Companies

    By 1851 there were around 50 new telegraph companies in the United stated. The most successful companies were the New York company, the Mississippi company, and the Western Union company.
  • First transcontinental Telegraph line

    First transcontinental Telegraph line
    In 1861 the Western Union company completed the first ever transcontinental Telegraph line. Which means they connected a Telegraph from San Francisco all the way to the Midwest of the United States.
  • Period: to

    Union Pacific Railroad

    In 1869 the Union Pacific Railroad was done. So much of the Telegraph line was relocated to run along the railroads to facilitate maintenance. It was around the 1900s when they stopped doing that.
  • The British and Europeans

    The British and Europeans
    Around the 1900s the British and Europeans started to there hands on the Telegraph. It was very difficult to use at first because the telegraph communicates by using Morse Code, and Morse Code was meant to be English so they had a tough time understanding it at first.
  • Improvements on the Telegraph

    Improvements on the Telegraph
    In 1918 the Western Union company started to make more improvements on the Telegraph. It could travel to farther distances and it could send more than one signal at a time. You could send up to about 24 signals on one call.
  • Period: to

    The Singing Telegraph

    In 1933 the Western Union company created the first ever singing Telegraph. It was mainly made for World War 2, even though World War 2 didn't start until 1939 they used them when a soldiers wife was informed that there husband died. Then World War 2 ended in 1945 and they stopped using the singing Telegraph.
  • The last Telegraph

    The last Telegraph
    Finally, on January, 2006 the last used Telegraph was made by the Western Union company. They stopped making them because of all of the new technology that was made including cell phones, iPads, computers, and many more.