Samuel Morse (1791-1872), US inventor of the electric telegraph and Morse code. Morse started his career as a painter, but developed an interest in the study of electricity. From 1832 he worked on the development of the electric telegraph, striving to increase its range. He demonstrated his code, a series of dots and dashes representing each letter, in 1838. After gaining financial support, he transmitted the first telegraph message on 24 May 1844, along the new line linking Washington DC and Baltimore, USA. This first message was sent in Morse code and read 'What hath God wrought'.