Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Morse's Code
The year is 1844. There are no telephones. There are no computers. There's no Internet. There are no radios or TVs. The only way to send messages far away is to send a letter. Mail delivery is slow. People get news only from newspapers or travelers. But on May 24, 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse forever changed the way news and messages could be sent.
Mr. Morse sent a message from Washington, D.C. He sent it forty miles away to his helper in Baltimore, Maryland. The message was received only a few minutes after it was sent. What a marvel it was! How did Morse send his message? He sent it by telegraph over a thin wire.
Twelve years before, Morse was on a ship. He was coming home from Europe. He heard men talking of a new way to send signals with electromagnetism. Morse was excited. He wanted to send messages far away. He started working on his own signaling device. A group of English men came up with a telegraph system before Morse. Theirs could only be used over short distances. It had other problems, too.
