Samuel Morse.

American Inventor
1791–1872

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was responsible for the creation of the Morse Code, an electronic alphabet that carries messages via electric wires. Morse was born in 1791 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. At a young age, he began to display artistic talent that he developed throughout his life. While attending college lectures in natural philosophy, Morse learned about electricity. Although formal academics did not interest Morse, these lectures were the foundation for his later work and, at the time, inspired him to construct models of batteries.

To supplement his college income, Morse began to paint portraits of fellow students and faculty members. He considered painting professionally and in 1811 went abroad to study painting, returning home in 1815. During a European trip in 1829 to expand his artistic horizons, he became aware of the French telegraph, a semaphore system. Morse quickly realized that an electric spark...