What inspired Samuel Morse to invent the telegraph?

Samuel Morse, born on April 27, 225 years ago is best known for inventing Morse code. When he was 53, he strung a wire along the B&O railroad, then using his code to tap out “What hath God wrought” from Washington, D.C. read more

The need to communicate over long distances, coupled with electrical technology, is what inspired Morse to invent the telegraph. The need had always been there, and there had been many other devices and techniques developed prior to the telegraph, but the adoption of the new electrical devices is what really made it successful. read more

Inspired by a conversation he overheard about electromagnetism on a ship ride from Europe, inventor Samuel Morse conceived the idea for an electric telegraph (though, unbeknownst to him, the idea was not exactly new). read more

Samuel (or Finley, as he was called by his family) attended Yale at the age of fourteen and was taught by Benjamin Silliman, Professor of Chemistry, and Jeremiah Day, Professor of Natural Philosophy, later President of Yale College, whose teaching gave Samuel the education which in later years led to the invention of the telegraph. read more