The electrical telegraph was invented in 1837 by William Fothergill Cook (1806-1879) and Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) in England with parallel innovations being made by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) in the United States. The telegraph, once wires and undersea cables had connected countries and continents, transformed communications so that messages could be sent and received anywhere in just minutes.
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Definition
Timeline
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1837William Fothergill Cook and Charles Wheatstone first patent the electrical telegraph.
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1838The first successful commercial use of the electrical telegraph for the Great Western Railway between Paddington Station and West Drayton.
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24 May 1844Samuel Morse uses his morse code electrical telegraph for the first time.
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1850Alexander Bain invents an electrical telegraph machine that can send and receive messages using perforated strips of paper.
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1856The Western Union Telegraph Company is created in the United States.
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1866The SS Great Eastern lays the first transatlantic electrical telegraph cable.
