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Samuel F.B. Morse self-portrait (1791-1872)		 
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"Numbers"
From "The International Morse Code"
© Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Morse Telegraph Key
1844

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This is the telegraph key with which Samuel F. B. Morse sent his famous May 24, 1844, message, "What hath God wrought!" Designed by his partner, Alfred Vail, it was a simple strip of spring steel that could be pressed against a metal contact. Morse's use of this key changed the world of communication forever.

Notes
Samuel F. B. Morse, born April 27, 1791, Charlestown, MA; died April 2, 1872, New York, NY
Alfred Lewis Vail, born September 25, 1807, Morristown, NJ; died January 18, 1859, Morristown, NJ
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Learn more!
· History of the Telegraph
· Communications
· U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
· "Numbers," From "The International Morse Code"
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