Who Invented Morse Code? Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail and 1844

By the Morse Code Translator team · Published October 24, 2026 · Facts checked against the sources below · How we work

Morse code is named after Samuel F. B. Morse, an American painter who became an inventor. But he did not do it alone. His partner, Alfred Vail, played a big part. And the code we use today is not quite the one they made. Here is the real story, based on records from the Library of Congress and the ARRL.

The short answer

Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail made the first Morse code in the 1830s and 1840s, for use with Morse’s electric telegraph. The Library of Congress says the code came out of their work together. The first famous message in Morse code was sent on May 24, 1844. That first version, called American Morse, was later changed into the International Morse code used by radio today.

Samuel Morse: a painter with a big idea

Samuel Finley Breese Morse lived from 1791 to 1872. For most of his early life he was an artist. ARRL notes that he was a painter and a founder of the National Academy of Design.

In 1832, Morse was sailing home from Europe. On that ship, ARRL says, he came up with the basic idea of an electromagnetic telegraph. The idea was simple. Send pulses of electric current down a wire. At the other end, a device would react to each pulse. If you could control the pulses, you could send a message.

Turning that idea into a working machine took years. Morse tried many kinds of devices and codes. By 1836 he could show a working telegraph set, ARRL says. He also added a relay to the circuit, which let a signal go any distance.

Alfred Vail: the partner

Alfred Vail worked with Morse on both the machines and the code. The Library of Congress says the code came about through the work of Morse and Vail together. It was Vail who sat at the far end of the line for the famous first message.

Even so, the code carries only one name. Morse held the patent on the telegraph, and his name is the one that stuck.

May 24, 1844: “What hath God wrought?”

Morse needed money to build a real line. The Library of Congress says that in 1843, the US Congress set aside $30,000 for a test line between Washington and Baltimore.

On May 24, 1844, Morse sat in the Supreme Court chamber in the US Capitol. The Library of Congress says he sent a message to Alfred Vail in Baltimore. The words were “What hath God wrought?”, a line from the Bible (Numbers 23:23). Annie Ellsworth, the daughter of the US Commissioner of Patents, chose them.

It worked. The age of fast messages over long distances had begun.

You can hear that first message in our translator. In International Morse code it looks like this:

·−− ···· ·− − / ···· ·− − ···· / −−· −−− −·· / ·−− ·−· −−− ··− −−· ···· − ··−−··

Paper tape and the sound of clicks

The first telegraph did not beep. It printed. The Library of Congress says early machines marked raised dots and dashes on a moving strip of paper. A clerk then read the marks and wrote down the letters.

Operators soon learned they could read the code just by listening to the clicks of the machine. That was faster than reading the tape. ARRL says early users of American Morse did not listen to tones at all. They listened to the clicks made by a device called a sounder.

This is why people still learn Morse code by sound today. Your ear can pick out a rhythm faster than your eyes can count dots.

From American Morse to International Morse

The code Morse and Vail used is now called American Morse. ARRL says it was quite different from the code we use now. On the old landlines, a dash could be sent as two dots close together. Users of International Morse made a dash with one longer press of the key instead.

The Library of Congress says American Morse was later changed into International Morse. ARRL says International Morse spread with radio, and that is the code you see in our alphabet chart. Today it is set out in a world standard from the ITU called ITU-R M.1677-1. That standard says versions of the code have been in use since 1844.

Keys and speed

The first operators used a simple key, a lever you press down. ARRL says that around 1902, a new “bug” key came out. It used a moving weight to make dots by itself, so operators could send faster. Later came electronic keyers that make perfect dots and dashes.

Skilled operators today can talk at 20 to 30 words per minute, ARRL says, and they can follow the text in their heads without writing it down.

What came next

The telegraph changed the world. News, business and family messages could cross a country in minutes, not days. Later, radio carried Morse code across oceans with no wires at all.

In 1906, a world meeting chose SOS as the distress signal for ships. Read the story on our SOS in Morse code page. You can also learn what Morse code is and find out whether it is still used today.

Key facts

Fact	Detail
Named after	Samuel F. B. Morse (1791 to 1872)
Key partner	Alfred Vail
Telegraph idea	1832, on a ship from Europe
Working set shown	1836
First famous message	May 24, 1844, Washington to Baltimore
Message text	“What hath God wrought?”
First version	American Morse
Version used today	International Morse (ITU-R M.1677-1)

Tools for this guide

Frequently asked questions

When was Morse code invented?

Samuel Morse got the idea for an electric telegraph in 1832. He showed a working set in 1836. The first famous public message was sent on May 24, 1844. So the code was worked out in the 1830s and early 1840s.

Did Alfred Vail invent Morse code?

Vail worked closely with Morse, and the Library of Congress says the code came out of their work together. Morse held the patent on the telegraph, so the code took his name.

Is the Morse code we use today the same as the first one?

No. The first version is called American Morse. It was later changed into International Morse, which radio uses today. ARRL says the old code differed a lot from the one used now.

What did Samuel Morse do before the telegraph?

He was a painter. ARRL notes he helped found the National Academy of Design in New York.