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Connecting the Dots and Dashes
Picture a world where sending a message takes days, or even weeks. Imagine needing a horse or a boat to carry your words to someone in a different city. This is what life was like until the 1830s. That was when Samuel Morse invented a system for sending messages using a telegraph machine and Morse code.
Unlike modern telephones, telegraphs could not send voices or pictures. Instead, the telegraph sent bursts of electricity through a wire. Telegraph users pushed a button to make electricity flow through the wire. If a person just tapped the button, the telegraph sent a short burst called a ‘dot’. If a person held down the button longer, the telegraph sent a longer burst called a ‘dash’.
Samuel Morse invented a code to give meaning to these bursts of electricity. He gave each letter of the alphabet a different mix of dots and dashes. For example, if you wanted to send the letter A, you would send a dot followed by a dash. This system of dots and dashes came to be known as Morse code. At first, telegraph users would print out the dot-and-dash messages and then change them back into letters and words. However, people soon learned to understand Morse code simply by listening to the sounds made by the telegraph machine.
Today most people send messages with phones or computers. However, Morse code is sometimes still used when a person in peril doesn’t have electricity. For example, a hiker with a broken leg can send an SOS message in Morse code using a torch or smoke signals. An SOS message is a signal for help that is recognised all over the world. The letters SOS were chosen for the signal because they are easy to create in Morse code: three dots, three dashes and three more dots.
Asking for help is not the only way in which people still use Morse code. Some people who run their own radio stations as a hobby use Morse code as well. They like it because it is an easy way to send clear messages to listeners. Sometimes airports also use Morse code to give information to pilots during flight. Even in today’s world, Samuel Morse’s simple code helps people transfer messages clearly and quickly across long distances.