Morse code Day April 27th

Historic City News reporters note the April 27th commemoration of “Morse code Day” with a caveat — being that although Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born in 1791 on April 27th, he is actually the co-inventor of “Morse code”.

Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, and he was an accomplished painter.

Morse went to great lengths to win a lawsuit for the right to be called “inventor of the telegraph”, and promoted himself as being an inventor, but, Alfred Vail played an important role in the invention of “Morse Code” which was based on earlier codes for the electromagnetic telegraph.

In 1980, the last remaining US telegraph operator, Western Union, earned greater revenue from money transfer service than telegram services for the first time in the company’s history. They discontinued all telegram services in the United States on January 27, 2006.

Today, a modified version of Morse code is in use by ham radio operators world-wide. However, as of 2007, getting an Amateur Radio license no longer requires passing a code test. Many people now enter the ranks of Amateur Radio without learning Morse code.

So, for all your dots and dashes, whatever they mean, Historic City News salutes you.