Who invented telegraph?

Samuel F. B. Morse invented the first telegraph in 1837. Before Morse many inventors tried and worked on the same but the first practical instrument that could send telegraph using electricity successfully was designed by him. Samuel Morse was a professor of art and design at New York University in 1835. He became interested in telegraphic device in 1832 and started working on it. For the samehe took technical assistance from Leonard Gale, a chemistry professor and monetary support from Alfred Vail.

The device he developed used an electric circuit, an overhead wire and Earth as another conductor to complete the circuit. A marker was moved to produce written code on a piece of paper using pulses of current to deflect electromagnet- this was Morse code. For one more year the machine was worked on to emboss the paper with dots and dashes and then the public demonstration was conducted in 1838. After five years telegraph lines were constructed. And the first telegraphic message was “What Hath God wrought?” A complete line was officially inaugurated on May 24, 1844. The first transcontinental
telegraph line was built by the Western Union along the railroads in 1851 and then theys began their profits.

For economic reasons, the Post and Telegraph department intervened in 1881 and it was in 1943 that the Post and Telegraph department and the Western Union joined hands. Originally the telegraphic message was printed on the tape but in the U. S. the trained operator transmitted message by sending it through keys and receiving by ears at the speed of 40 to 50 words a minute.