What is Morse code?
Morse code is a system that represents letters and numbers with short and long signals, called dots and dashes. It was developed in the 1830s and 1840s for sending messages by telegraph.
American inventor Samuel Morse and his partner Alfred Vail developed the code to send messages along telegraph wires using electrical pulses. On May 24, 1844, Morse sent the first long-distance telegraph message from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore: What hath God wrought. The code could also be sent with sound, light or flags.
The most common letters were given the shortest codes. E is a single dot, and T is a single dash. The version used worldwide today, called International Morse Code, was standardized in the 1860s. Skilled operators can send and receive more than 20 words per minute by ear.
Still in use
Morse code was essential for ships and armies for more than a century. It was officially replaced for maritime distress in 1999 by satellite systems. Amateur radio operators still use it, and it can be a lifeline in emergencies, tapped, flashed or blinked when other communication is impossible.
Did You Know?
In 1966, US Navy pilot Jeremiah Denton, a prisoner of war, blinked the word TORTURE in Morse code during a filmed interview to signal how prisoners were being treated.