On a brisk afternoon in Washington, D.C., on December 13, 1844, an unusual sight drew curious onlookers to the U.S. Capitol. A tangle of wires, wooden poles, and odd-looking electrical boxes had been ...

The world’s first telegraph message relayed the biblical phrase “What hath God wrought?” and was brought about by Samuel Morse in 1844. This historic moment may not be the right one to be recognized, ...