Samuel F. B. Morse is credited with inventing the telegraph because of his patent in June 1840, but, as one contemporary observed, Morse’s talent consisted of “combining and applying the discoveries of others in the invention of a particular instrument and process for telegraphic purposes.” Morse sent the first message in 1844 on this telegraph using a code he devised that represented each letter and number with dots and dashes. Division of Political History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.