Samuel f.b. Morse anniversary

[KK5R]

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE ANNIVERSARY

May 24 is the anniversary of Samuel F.B. Morse's first coded telegraph message.

The message was sent In 1844 between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC — a distance of 41 miles. While this may not seem very significant in these days of world-wide communications, it was the seed that grew in the minds of forward-thinkers that has eventually brought us to these days of seeing images from around the world being brought to us in mere seconds and, of course, seeing man's footprints on the moon.

Morse's middle initials (FB), by the way, are not the source of Ham Radio's "Fine Business." It actually stands for Finley Breeze, a strange middle-name set but certainly no more strange than some of today's name selections.

Also, it is not generally known but Morse was a very well-known artist in his time and many of his paintings are still on display in the Halls of Congress.

Reading Morse's development of the Telegraph, it is easy to see that he was an experimenter that did not give up. Mistakes were made at first but the end result, one of eventual and great success, has left us a historical figure that deserves honor and respect.

[W6UDO]

A great one to mark! His experiments and later those of Marconi and others have certainly given us hams a lot to enjoy, as well as the communications we rely on in emergencies and for news, entertainment, and more. It be great to have some kind of commemorative station on the air for this.
Also, his name was Samuel Finley Breese Morse. His mother's name was Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese.
Tnx for the post, and very 73...Joe

[K8ERV]

I'm sure glad people remind us of important dates. I keep a history file.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[WA9ZZZ]

Historical marker.


Where it's at. (not much to see in Street View).

[KE6SLS]

The FB in his name just makes cw that much more enjoyable I suppose! Thanks for the history lesson!

73

[W1LVT]

It's a fascinating story - how he developed it all! One minor quibble though: I had always understood that his second middle name was Breese not Breeze.

73

[K6WXA]

Incidentally... history holds for some reason, that Samuel F.B. Morse' first telegraph message was "What hath God wrought" which was sent by him on May 24th 1844. However historical buffs, his first actual telegraph message was "A patient waiter is no loser" which he sent on January 11th, 1838.

[KY5U]

No name strikes more fear and uneasiness in the breast of many hams than "Morse".

[W6UDO]

No name strikes more fear and uneasiness in the breast of many hams than "Morse".

Well, maybe before they quit testing on it, but not any more!

[K7YB]

Someone explain why ( since code proficiency is no longer a requirement) the CW entries in contests/DX operations are equal to and sometimes higher than the phone entries? Morse was indeed a forward thinker and though I struggled with the code at times, I do enjoy it. Simple and effective communication. This day should be celebrated with....A CONTEST?!!