1800s

The Telegram

Inventors began experimenting with sending messages via electric wires in the mid-18th century. However, it is the American Samuel Morse who is usually credited with the invention of the first telegram. He sent the message “WHAT GOD HATH WROUGHT” from Washington to a colleague in Baltimore in 1844. It wasn’t long before this quick way of transmitting information replaced the previous method – Pony Express – across the USA. The US company Western Union dominated the market from 1856 until it sent its last telegram in 2006.

In the early part of the 20th century, telegrams were used to announce major news developments, from the first-ever flight in 1903 to the outbreak of World War One in 1914. The telegram hit peak popularity in the 1920s and ‘30s, when sending a telegram was much cheaper than making a long-distance phone call. The word ‘stop’ was generally used to indicate a break in the message, rather than a full stop, because punctuation cost extra, whereas an extra word was often free!

During wartime, families dreaded the sight of a telegram messenger on his bicycle in case he was delivering the heartbreaking news that a loved one had been killed, captured or was missing in action. The introduction of email, text-messaging and WhatsApp in the new century meant that the telegram became obsolete and the last one in Britain was sent in 2008. The world’s final telegram is believed to have been sent in 2013 but it’s likely that few of today’s youngsters will ever have heard the word at all…

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