A French general named Lafayette arrived in America from France for a visit. Due to Lafayette's significant contributions to the United States during the Revolutionary War, the New York City government decided to commission a portrait of him as a gesture of gratitude. Through a competitive bidding process, a painter named Morse won the commission. However, Lafayette was about to travel to Washington, and Morse, who desperately needed the income from this contract to improve his family's financial situation, decided to leave his beloved wife behind and accompany Lafayette to Washington.
Little did he know that this decision would change his fate forever. What he thought was just a temporary separation turned into a final farewell. From that moment on, he and his wife were forever parted by life and death—a tragedy that, in an unexpected twist, would set humanity on a path toward the information age.
During his time in New York, Morse frequently wrote letters to his wife, sharing his experiences and observations. Unfortunately, instead of receiving a reply from her, he received a letter from his father bearing devastating news: his wife had passed away. Braving the wind and snow, Morse undertook a long journey home, only to arrive too late—his wife had already been buried. He never got to see her one last time. To cope with his grief, he immersed himself in his work and, along with a few colleagues, founded the National Academy of Design.
In 1828, Morse traveled to Europe to study the works of history's greatest painters. While in France, he encountered something that not only reignited his regret over missing his wife's final moments but also sparked an idea that would change the world. That "something" was the signal tower system.
This communication system functioned similarly to ancient Chinese beacon towers but used mechanical arms in different positions to represent different letters instead of smoke signals. People could decipher messages from miles away simply by observing the varying positions of these mechanical arms. When Morse saw this system, he wondered: if he could invent a means of communication that transmitted messages at lightning speed, perhaps he could have received news of his wife's illness in time to see her before she passed. Though it was just a fleeting thought, it planted the seed of a groundbreaking invention.
After three years in Europe, Morse embarked on a long voyage back to New York. During the journey, he met a scientist named Jackson, who introduced him to the latest advancements in electromagnetism and demonstrated electromagnetic induction. Fascinated, Morse eagerly learned the basics of electronics from Jackson, which inspired his idea to develop the telegraph.
Upon returning to New York, Morse devoted himself to his new pursuit. He transformed his art studio into a laboratory and conducted electrical experiments. As he delved deeper, he realized that he was not the first to explore this concept. The 19th century was an era of rapid electrical advancements, with many scientists, including Ampère and Gauss, attempting to transmit information via electricity. However, two major challenges remained unsolved: first, how to efficiently encode information to minimize errors and maximize efficiency; and second, how to transmit messages over long distances using only batteries, as powerful generators had yet to be invented.
For over a thousand days and nights, Morse tirelessly experimented. He aged visibly, his savings dwindled, and exhaustion took its toll. Eventually, he had to admit that his initial approach had failed. Yet, all was not in vain. Through his research, Morse confirmed that while electricity could indeed travel at high speeds, it could only convey two states: on and off. To construct entire words, he needed a system that could differentiate multiple characters using just these two states—an endeavor that required sophisticated encoding.
Morse initially devised a system where the number of taps corresponded to a numerical code—for example, five taps for the number five, and two taps followed by a pause and then three more taps for twenty-three. He then took this a step further, assigning numbers to words in a 40,000-word dictionary. To send a message, one would simply transmit the corresponding number. While clever, this method proved impractical—it was prone to errors and required cumbersome lookups in a massive dictionary.
Realizing the flaws in this approach, Morse devised a more efficient alternative—the now-famous Morse code. This ingenious encoding system leveraged the binary nature of electrical signals, representing characters using short and long pulses (dots and dashes). To enhance efficiency, Morse and his team analyzed word frequencies and assigned the shortest codes to the most commonly used letters—'E,' for instance, was represented by a single dot. This innovation not only made Morse code easy to learn but also significantly improved its accuracy and reliability.
To further enhance usability, Morse invented a device that recorded signals on paper. When the circuit was activated, a stylus would mark the moving paper tape with dots and dashes, allowing operators to transcribe messages at their convenience rather than having to listen in real-time. With this, the first major hurdle was overcome. The remaining challenge was long-distance transmission.
While encoding required intellectual effort, transmitting signals over long distances demanded financial resources—an obstacle Morse struggled with. His studies in electromagnetism led him to the realization that transmission distance was limited by voltage loss. He addressed this issue by connecting multiple batteries in series to boost voltage and increasing the number of coils at the receiving end to function as a step-up transformer, reducing signal loss. Through relentless experimentation, he eventually extended the transmission range to several dozen kilometers.
Yet, even with this breakthrough, longer distances remained problematic, especially since powerful generators had yet to be invented. Worse still, Morse and his team ran out of funding. Desperate, they sought financial support from Congress, but legislators were skeptical of the telegraph's potential. Just as all hope seemed lost, salvation arrived in the form of Alfred Vail, the son of a wealthy steel manufacturer. Vail’s financial backing allowed the team to continue their work.
Together, they devised a game-changing solution: instead of attempting direct long-distance transmissions, they developed a relay system. By installing relay stations every 30 kilometers, they successfully transmitted messages over much longer distances. This breakthrough not only solved the immediate challenge but also laid the groundwork for remote-controlled mechanical systems.
After years of effort, their persistence paid off. In 1843, Congress approved a $30,000 grant to build a 64-kilometer telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. A year later, Morse transmitted the first-ever telegraph message: "What hath God wrought?"
Soon after, American inventor Ezra Cornell developed insulated cables to prevent signal loss over long distances. Teaming up with Morse and others, he co-founded Western Union, which became the world's largest telegraph company. Incidentally, Cornell later established Cornell University.
The telegraph revolutionized global communication, dominating for over half a century. It also reshaped industries and societies. In France, where traditional signal towers were still in use, authorities were slow to adopt the telegraph. Prussia, however, quickly recognized its strategic military advantages and incorporated telegraphs and railways into their warfare tactics—contributing to their victory over France.
Beyond the battlefield, the telegraph transformed journalism. Before its invention, people relied on local newspapers, as distant news took too long to arrive. With the telegraph, national newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post emerged, overshadowing local papers. As newspapers flourished, so did advertising. In 1882, Procter & Gamble spent $11,000 on soap ads—a massive sum at the time. Just 17 years later, companies were spending over a million dollars on advertising.
Perhaps even more profound was the telegraph's impact on timekeeping. Before its invention, towns set their clocks independently, causing confusion—especially for train schedules. The combination of telegraphs and railroads led to the standardization of time zones, unifying how the world measured time.
With transatlantic cables linking continents, businesses adapted or perished. Some, like American Express, pivoted from document delivery to financial services, eventually evolving into global banking giants like American Express and Wells Fargo.
The wheels of history continue to turn, crushing those who resist change while elevating those who embrace it. The only constant in life is change itself.