Morse code
Código Morse
- Date
- 1837-1844 · confidence high
- Place
- Morristown (Speedwell Ironworks), New Jersey, United States
- Credited to
- Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail
- People
- 👤 Alfred Vail1807–1859👤 Samuel Morse1791–1872
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A code of dots and dashes representing letters and digits, with lengths assigned according to their frequency in English. The first binary information-encoding system for transmission, an ancestor of information theory.
Vail's part in designing the alphabetic code is disputed; the international version (Gerke, 1848, Hamburg) is the one that survived.
What it led to
- Standardised worldwide telegraphic communication (International Morse, 1865)
- Radiotelegraphy and the SOS signal
- Efficient coding and information theory (Shannon)
- The profession of telegraphist and a culture of abbreviations
Built on
- Electric telegraph1837
- Flag and signal codes
Made possible
- Teleprinter (teletype)1902–1910
- Barcode and Universal Product Code1952-1974
- Morse telegraph
- Marconi's radio