Free Knowledge Culture Calendar/January 6

Telegraph instrument

Today in 1838 the successful single-wire telegraph with binary digital coding by Morse and Vail was demonstrated, five years after the invention of electric telegraphy. While analog telecommunication technologies like earlier telephones are now considered the old thing, the first era of near-instantaneous telecommunication before that was digital. For most applications, this type of technology replaced horse-mounted couriers carrying inked paper back and forth.