This Day In Maryland History: The Telegram Message That Changed The World

BALTIMORE — May 24, 1844, will forever be imprinted into the history books of humanity, as this was the day that the first public long-distance telegram was transmitted between American cities that stood dozens of miles apart. Samuel Morse set up a telegraph system between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, allowing him to transmit messages across vast distances.

One of the first commercial telegraph devices was demonstrated a few years earlier on July 25, 1837, in London, though the message was only sent about 1.5 miles away. Plenty of others conceived of the technology in prior decades, but it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that the technology would be capable of transmitting messages between distant cities.

Telegrams were the precursor to phone calls, texts and arguably, even the internet. Governments would use telegrams to communicate with each other for decades, while the average person could send a telegram to inform loved ones of major life events like deaths or weddings.

The United States Congress supported Samuel Morse financially in his endeavor, allowing him to send the telegram between Maryland and the nation’s capital. Morse knew that one of the first telegrams ever transmitted long distance had to be worthy of the title.

“What hath God wrought?” was the message that was beamed between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on that fateful May day in 1844. The distinct phrase is actually a quote from the Bible under Numbers 23:23, which was recommended to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the daughter of Patent Commissioner Henry Ellsworth.

By the early 1900s, the telegraph was a part of daily life. Governments and civilians alike could send nearly instantaneous messages around the globe, partially replacing mail, which often took weeks or even months to reach its recipient.

Both Maryland and Washington, D.C., had big roles to play in the creation and testing of the telegraph, making our state a major catalyst for one of the greatest inventions in human history.

Why Was The Telegraph Replaced?

The invention of the radio, telephone, television and even the internet all overshadowed the speed and efficiency of the telegraph. Sending a telegram was a costly endeavor, and it required trained operators to interpret the code. The telegraph is mostly obsolete in 2026, but its impact on communication around the world will never be forgotten.

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