when was the telegraph introduced in europe?

Question

i'm doing a presentation on technology in the early 1800's in europe. if they didn't have telegraphs, what did they use? when and what was the first long range communication device introduced there? well, anything that didnt require someone running to deliver anything.

Answer 1

Actually, as with many inventions, there was not really ONE inventor, and in fact, Samuel Morse's contribution was not as big as many think. In fact, various scientists on BOTH sides of the Atlantic had been working in the area of electromagnetism and its use for communication -- Precursors to Morse's efforts included Frenchman Ampere, Britain's Michael Faraday and American Joseph Henry.

More specifically, to your question -- Europe was developing a telegraph at the SAME time as Morse's work. Note the following:

"[in]1836. . in England, Charles Wheatstone, who is commonly regarded as the first inventor of practical electric telegraphy, constructed an apparatus whereby thirty signals were transmitted through nearly four miles of wire. From 1837 to 1843 he had as an associate William Fothergill Cooke, and the two worked together to develop the electric telegraph. They afterward quarrelled over their
respective claims to credit, but in 1838-1841 telegraph lines secured by their patents were set up on the Great Western and two other English railways."
http://history-world.org/Telegraph,%20Invention%20of.htm

Check the dates against those of Morse -- first public demonstration in 1838, experimental line from Baltimore to Washington demonstrated in 1844.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltelegraph.htm
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/sfbmhtml/sfbmtelessay.html


http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltelegraph.htm

Answer 2

Samuel Morse invented it in 1837. I am sure that Europeans used it shortly after this. Before it, there was no other long range communication devices. Communication was delivered through a system of roads.