On this night in science
Messages along a wire
January 6, 1838
On this day in 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail showed off their telegraph at an ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey. Pulses of electricity sent along two miles of wire made a machine at the far end mark dots and dashes on a strip of paper.
Why it mattered
A message could now travel as fast as electricity along a wire. Within a decade, telegraph wires stretched between cities, and news could arrive in minutes instead of days.
Wonder together
If you could only send messages in dots and dashes, how would you say goodnight?