Making Improvements
Samuel Morse improved the telegraph so that communication was faster and easier. A telegraph is a machine that transmits, or sends sounds representing letters and numbers to communicate with others. Morse used items such as a homemade battery and old clock gears to improve the telegraph! On May 24, 1844, the first official telegraph was sent by Samuel Morse. It said, “What hath God wrought!” This is from a verse in the Bible.
Thomas Edison improved Morse’s telegraph system. Edison improved the telegraph so more messages could be sent at the same time. Edison received little education but became one of history’s most well-known and successful inventors. He took already-made things and made them work better. Sometimes he made already-made things less expensive so that more people could buy them. He improved the light bulb since light bulbs at the time were expensive and didn’t stay lit for long. Once Edison improved the light bulb, it lasted for 1200 hours—or 50 days.
