
- Who
- Samuel Morse
- What
- first
- Where
- United States ()
- When
On 24 May 1844 Samuel Morse (USA) sent the first Morse code telegraph message, which read "What hath God wrought?", from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington DC, USA, to B&O Railroad Depot in Baltimore, USA. This achievement came as a result of his co-invention of the Morse code telegraph with Alfred Vail, his long-time assistant. Morse had independently invented the electrical telegraph in 1836, and in the next two years invented Morse code with Alfred. After numerous presentations, US Congress approved the construction of the first telegraph line – from Washington to Baltimore – resulting in the now famous message. The line cost $30,000 to construct.