The advent of telegraphs was a breakthrough in the development of technology. With its help, it was possible to transmit various signals and messages. In which year did the telegraph invent? Who is its author? Find out in the article.
The origins
Man, as a social being, always needed to communicate with his own kind. Even in ancient times, from the moment people were united into small groups, it became necessary to create a signal system. She sent a message warning of danger.
So, one of the oldest ways to transmit a signal is sound. They warned of the approach of enemies by imitating sounds of wildlife, for example, the twittering of birds, the screams of an owl. Sounds were made with the help of horns or musical instruments. Another effective means of transmitting a signal is fire. In our time, it can come in handy for tourists lost in the dense forests.
As society developed, a more efficient and innovative way of signaling was required. And he appeared. Next, let's try to figure out who invented the telegraph. The term telegraph means a means of transmitting a signal over communication channels. Such channels may be radio waves or wires. The name of the term is derived from the words of the ancient Greek language - tele and grapho, which translates as “far” and “I write”. The terms “telephone” and “telex” have a similar origin.
Who was the first to invent the telegraph?
The first telegraph was optical. It is not known exactly who invented the telegraph. Printed articles about this mechanism began to appear quite early. But among those who invented the telegraph, is certainly the English scientist Hook. He demonstrated his device back in 1684. The mechanism was based on moving rulers and circles that were visible from great distances.
As an optical telegraph, a heliograph was used. It was first established in 1778 between the observatories of Greenwich and Paris. Usually the heliograph was located on a tripod, and inside it was a small mirror. The signal was transmitted using flashes of light that were received when the device was tilted. It is difficult to name the author of this device, however, the invention was popular among the military even in the 19th century.
Semaphore
In 1792, the Frenchman Claude Chappe invented an optical telegraph resembling a heliograph mechanism. The signal was transmitted due to the light emitted by the semaphore. Several identical tall buildings were placed within sight of each other. They had semaphores and the people who controlled them.
Already in 1794, 22 stations with semaphores were installed on the way from Paris to Lille. It took about 2 minutes to transmit one signal. Such a signal transmission system has become very popular. Soon, other stations were built. The signal was transmitted much more accurately than that of the beacon and smoke signal.
Shapp invented a special code system. On the semaphore were horizontally planks. Spreading or connecting, they formed a certain figure, each of which corresponded to a letter of the alphabet. Two words could be conveyed in one minute.
Electric telegraph
At the end of the XVIII century, researchers and inventors study the properties of electricity. There is an idea to apply it to the telegraph. In 1774, Georg Lesage created the first electrostatic telegraph. Samuel Semmering later invents an electrochemical mechanism, with gas bubbles inside.
In 1832, Paul Schilling became the one who invented the electromagnetic telegraph. Five magnetic arrows were suspended on silk threads, which moved inside coils entwined with wire. The direction of the current determined the side in which the magnetic needle moved. It was possible to transmit both letters and numbers.
Immediately after Schilling was followed by a series of identical inventions from the Germans Gauss and Weber, the British Cook and Watson. But the patent for the electromagnetic telegraph went to Samuel Morse, since it was not a switch, but a mechanical type. Later, the inventor came up with a world-famous signal code - Morse code.
Photo telegraph
A physicist from Scotland advanced several steps at once. Alexander Bain was the first to invent a telegraph capable of transmitting images. The device appeared in 1843 and was called the "photo telegraph". He is considered to be the progenitor of a fax.
The Italian Caselli creates a device similar to Bane’s invention and begins mass production. Special varnish transferred the image or drawing to lead foil. The machine read out the elements and transmitted them on paper in an electrochemical manner. Later models of photo telegraphs were even used for the production of geographical maps.
Wireless telegraph
In 1895, a completely new type of telegraph, called the "lightning detector", was demonstrated in Russia. Who invented the wireless telegraph? The author of the invention was the famous scientist Alexander Popov. The main objective of the mechanism was to register the radio waves produced by a thunderstorm front.
In fact, it was the first radio in the world. Having improved the model of the first "lightning detector", it was possible to achieve that the signal encrypted with Morse code was transmitted directly to the headphones to the receiving side. The Popov device was successfully used to communicate between ships and the shore. He found wide application in military affairs.
New era
A new stage in the development of telegraphs began in 1872, after the invention of the start-stop telegraph by Jean Bodot. Thanks to him, it became possible to transmit several messages at once in one direction.
In 1930, the Bodo apparatus was supplemented by disc dialers. They looked like the usual dial-up disks on old phones. Now it was possible to indicate the subscriber to whom the message was intended. Such a device was called "telex." In many countries of the world, they began to create national subscriber systems for telegraphy. Such networks appeared, for example, in Germany, Great Britain, and the USA.
At present, telegraph communication still exists. But, of course, innovative technologies have long replaced it in the place of “retro-systems”.