Portal of interesting hobbies. Electric telegraph in pre-revolutionary Russia

“I wrote to you with a dash and a dot...” - we recall the prerequisites for the creation of the telegraph and how this device was distributed. Including in Russia.

The most effective semaphore-type system is still the telegraph of the French inventor Pierre Chateau. It was optical system from semaphore towers that were in direct visual communication with each other, located at a distance of usually 10−20 km. On each of them there was a crossbar about three meters long, at the ends of which movable rulers were attached. With the help of traction, the rulers could be folded into 196 figures.

The most efficient semaphore telegraph was invented by Pierre Chateau
Its original inventor was, of course, Claude Chappe, who chose 76 of the clearest and most distinct figures, each of which denoted a specific letter, number or sign. The borders of the lines were equipped with lanterns, which made it possible to transmit messages even in the dark. In France alone, by the middle of the 19th century, the length of optical telegraph lines was 4828 kilometers. But Chateau improved the system - instead of individual letters and signs, each combination in his interpretation began to denote a phrase or a specific order. Of course, the police, government agencies and the army immediately appeared with their own code tables.

In 1833, the Chateau semaphore telegraph line connected St. Petersburg with Kronstadt. The main telegraph station was, oddly enough, right on the roof of the Emperor's Winter Palace. In 1839, the government telegraph line was extended to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, a distance of 1,200 kilometers. Along the entire route, 149 relay stations with towers up to 20 meters high were built. Observers were on duty at the towers around the clock telescopes. At night, lanterns were lit at the ends of the semaphores. The line was served by over 1000 people. It existed until 1854.

In 1833, the Chateau semaphore telegraph line connected St. Petersburg and Kronstadt
But the real breakthrough came only in September 1837, when at New York University, Samuel Morse demonstrated to an enlightened public his early designs for electric telegraphs - an intelligible signal sent along a wire 1,700 feet long. Fortunately for him, a successful industrialist from New Jersey, Stephen Weil, was present in the hall, who agreed to donate two thousand dollars (a lot of money at that time) and provide a room for experiments on the condition that Morse would take his son Alfred as an assistant. Morse agreed, and this was the most successful step in his life. Alfred Vail had not only real ingenuity, but also a keen practical sense. Over the following years, Weil contributed greatly to the development of the final form of Morse code. He also invented the printing telegraph, which was patented in Morse's name, in accordance with the terms of the Vail-Morse contract.

In Russia, by the way, they did without Morse’s invention - the telegraph of the Russian inventor Schilling was already in operation, however, the only line in St. Petersburg was laid by order of Nicholas I, it connected his office in the Winter Palace with the reception rooms of the Government - apparently, so that ministers could move faster with reporting to the monarch. At the same time, a project was implemented to connect Peterhof and Kronstadt by telegraph, for which a special insulated electric cable was laid along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland. By the way, this is one of the first examples of the use of the telegraph for military purposes.

Diagram of the first electric telegraph lines in Russia

By the middle of the 19th century there were several telegraph communication lines in the world

By the middle of the 19th century, there were several telegraph communication lines in the world, which were constantly being improved. After testing, ordinary wire was rejected and replaced by braided cable. Interestingly, one of the great ideas that spurred the development of telegraph communications in the United States was the desire to transfer money throughout the country. To organize such a system, the Western Union company was organized, which still exists today.

October 1852 - the first Moscow telegraph began operating at the Nikolaevsky station in Moscow

In Russia, telegraph communication developed simultaneously with the construction of railways and was initially used exclusively for military and government needs. Since 1847, the first telegraph lines in Russia used Siemens devices, including a horizontal pointer apparatus with a keyboard. The very first telegraph station began operating on October 1, 1852 in the building of the Nikolaevsky railway station ( today Leningradsky and Moskovsky railway stations in St. Petersburg and Moscow, respectively). Now anyone could send a telegram to Moscow or St. Petersburg, and delivery was carried out by special postmen on chaises and bicycles - everyone understood that this was not a letter and the information had to be conveyed quickly. The cost of sending a message within the city was 15 kopecks for the fact of sending a message and on top of that - a kopeck per word ( at that time, the tariff was significant). If the message was long-distance, then additional tariffs were applied. Moreover, the service was highly intelligent - texts were accepted in both Russian and French and German languages .

Local telegraph lines were installed in Russia in 1841

By the way, local telegraph lines were installed in the country back in 1841 - they connected the General Headquarters and the Winter Palace, Tsarskoe Selo and the Main Directorate of Communications, the St. Petersburg station of Nikolaevskaya railway and the village of Aleksandrovskoye. From those times until the middle of the 20th century, black Morse writing machines from Siemens and Halske were used. The devices were widely used and a large number of modifications, the best of which was the version of the Dinier brothers. And the Yuza direct-printing apparatus, invented in 1855, was used in Russia from 1865 to the Great Patriotic War 1941.

October 1869 - Telegraph station on Myasnitskaya Street in Moscow

In connection with the construction of the Moscow city telegraph network, the telegraph station from the Kremlin was moved to a specially adapted building on Myasnitskaya Street, next to the Post Office. Since the 1880s, the station began to use devices from Baudot, Siemens, Klopfer, Creed, as well as teletypes.

In the 19th century C. Wheatstone developed a device with perforated tape

In the middle of the 19th century, Charles Wheatstone developed a device with perforated tape, which increased the speed of the telegraph to 1,500 characters per minute - operators used special machines to type messages, which were then printed on tape. And it was this that was then loaded into the telegraph for sending through communication channels. This was much more convenient and economical - one telegraph line could work almost around the clock ( later, in the 70s of the 20th century, encryption machines of the GRU special forces worked on the same principle, “spitting out” an encrypted message in a split second). A little earlier, in 1850, the Russian scientist B. Jacobi created a direct-printing machine, which was brought to perfection by the American D. Hughes in 1855.

Another acceleration of technical thought occurred in 1872, when the Frenchman E. Baudot created a device that made it possible to transmit several telegrams simultaneously over one line, and the data was no longer received in the form of dots and dashes ( before that, all such systems were based on Morse code), and in the form of Latin and Russian letters ( after careful refinement by domestic specialists) language. The Baudot apparatus and those created on its principle are called start-stop apparatus. In addition, Baudot created a very successful telegraph code, which was subsequently adopted everywhere and received the name International Telegraph Code No. 1 (ITA1). The modified version of the code is called ITA2.

In the USSR, based on ITA2, the telegraph code MTK-2 was developed. Further modifications to the design of the start-stop telegraph apparatus proposed by Baudot led to the creation of teleprinters.

The beginning of the 20th century - the Golden Age for telegraph communications in Russia

Half a century after the opening of the first telegraph, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as others major cities Empire, many telegraph offices were opened, distributed on a territorial basis. The media have the opportunity to release operational news, which is reported by correspondents from the scene. For the central telegraph, a separate floor was built in the post office building on Myasnitskaya and about 300 communication lines from all over the country were connected there. It was hethe beginning for the development of telegraph communications in Russia, which can be considered a full-fledged Golden Age.

Telegrams in large cities have long been replaced Email, telexes are modern computers, and the whirring of teletypes has been replaced by the quiet hum of modern servers. But for decades, the dots and dashes of Morse code conveyed information about the most important events in people's lives. This material - Short story telegraph communications of Russia, which is fully represented in the special departmental museum of the Central Telegraph company.

History of development

Short text messages appeared much earlier than telephone communication. If you “dig” very deeply, you can remember the signal fires that flickered on the tops of hills in ancient times, which were used to transmit military information, as well as various models of semaphores that were used in both the Old and New Worlds.

Layouts of semaphore telegraphs of the Chateau (left) and Chappa systems (right).

The most effective semaphore-type system is still the telegraph of the French inventor Pierre Chateau. It was an optical system of semaphore towers, which were in direct visual communication with each other, located at a distance of usually 10-20 km. On each of them there was a crossbar about three meters long, at the ends of which movable rulers were attached. With the help of traction, the rulers could be folded into 196 figures. Its original inventor was, of course, Claude Chappe, who chose 76 of the clearest and most distinct figures, each of which denoted a specific letter, number or sign. The borders of the lines were equipped with lanterns, which made it possible to transmit messages even in the dark. In France alone, by the middle of the 19th century, the length of optical telegraph lines was 4828 kilometers. But Chateau improved the system - instead of individual letters and signs, each combination in his interpretation began to denote a phrase or a specific order. Of course, the police, government agencies and the army immediately appeared with their own code tables.

An example of an encrypted message that had to be sent using a semaphore telegraph.

In 1833, the Chateau semaphore telegraph line connected St. Petersburg with Kronstadt. The main telegraph station was, oddly enough, right on the roof of the Emperor's Winter Palace. In 1839, the government telegraph line was extended to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, a distance of 1,200 kilometers. Along the entire route, 149 relay stations with towers up to 20 meters high were built. Observers with telescopes were on duty at the towers around the clock. At night, lanterns were lit at the ends of the semaphores. The line was served by over 1000 people. It existed until 1854.

All standards for the transfer of information were regulated by special instructions.

But the real breakthrough came only in September 1837, when at New York University, Samuel Morse demonstrated to an enlightened public his early designs for electric telegraphs - an intelligible signal sent along a wire 1,700 feet long. Now this would be called a presentation to potential investors, but then for Morse, who was not an engineer by training, but an artist, this was the last chance to get funding for his developments. Fortunately for him, a successful industrialist from New Jersey, Stephen Weil, was present in the hall, who agreed to donate two thousand dollars (a lot of money at that time) and provide a room for experiments on the condition that Morse would take his son Alfred as an assistant. Morse agreed, and this was the most successful step in his life. Alfred Vail had not only real ingenuity, but also a keen practical sense. Over the following years, Vail was largely instrumental in developing the final form of Morse code, introducing the telegraph key instead of the connecting rod, and reducing the size of the apparatus to the compact model that became generally accepted. He also invented the printing telegraph, which was patented in Morse's name, in accordance with the terms of the Vail-Morse contract.

A rare Morse apparatus - demonstration of operation and description of functionality.

One of the first phrases that Morse transmitted using his apparatus was “Wonderful are Thy works, O Lord!”

In Russia, by the way, they did without Morse's invention - the telegraph of the Russian inventor Schilling was already in operation, however, the only line in St. Petersburg was laid by order of Nicholas I, it connected his office in the Winter Palace with the reception rooms of the Government - apparently, so that ministers could move faster with reporting to the monarch. At the same time, a project was implemented to connect Peterhof and Kronstadt by telegraph, for which a special insulated electric cable was laid along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland. By the way, this is one of the first examples of the use of the telegraph for military purposes.

Diagram of the first electric telegraph lines in Russia.

"Cap" of the imperial telegram.

In Russia, telegraph communication developed simultaneously with the construction of railways and was initially used exclusively for military and government needs. Since 1847, the first telegraph lines in Russia used Siemens devices, including a horizontal pointer apparatus with a keyboard. The very first telegraph station began operating on October 1, 1852 in the building of the Nikolaevsky railway station (now Leningradsky and Moskovsky railway stations in St. Petersburg and Moscow, respectively). Now anyone could send a telegram to Moscow or St. Petersburg, and delivery was carried out by special postmen on chaises and bicycles - everyone understood that this was not a letter and the information had to be conveyed quickly. The cost of sending a message within the city was 15 kopecks for the fact of sending a message and on top of that - a penny per word (at that time, the tariff was significant - like a couple of minutes of conversation over satellite communication now).

October 1852 - the first Moscow telegraph began operating at the Nikolaevsky station in Moscow.

If the message was long-distance, then additional tariffs were applied. Moreover, the service was highly intelligent - texts were accepted in Russian, French and German (try now to send a message from the regional telegraph at least in English!).

The telegraph from the station building is transferred to one of the buildings of the Moscow Kremlin.

True, it was not particularly convenient to work there, and in May 1856 the telegraph from the station building was transferred to one of the buildings of the Moscow Kremlin (a communications center would later be equipped there). At the station there was only a telegraph apparatus left for the needs of the railway - we assure you that it was not idle. During the Emperor's stay in Moscow, private dispatches were received in one of the rooms at the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin. By the way, local telegraph lines were installed in the country back in 1841 - they connected the General Headquarters and the Winter Palace, Tsarskoye Selo and the Main Directorate of Communications, the St. Petersburg station of the Nikolaevskaya Railway and the village of Aleksandrovskoye. From those times until the middle of the 20th century, black Morse writing machines from Siemens and Halske were used. The devices were widely used and had a large number of modifications, the best of which was the version of the Dinier brothers. And the Yuza direct-printing machine, invented in 1855, was used in Russia from 1865 until the Great Patriotic War of 1941.

Checking the correctness of the clock was established by a special decree.

By the end of 1855, telegraph lines had already connected cities throughout Central Russia and reached Europe (to Warsaw), Crimea, and Moldova. The presence of high-speed data transmission channels simplified the management of government authorities and troops. At the same time, the introduction of the telegraph began for the work of diplomatic missions and the police. On average, a report the size of one A4 page “jumped” from Europe to St. Petersburg in an hour - a fantastic result at that time. A little later, with the help of telegraph stations, another useful service was organized - accurate time setting. Atomic clocks on communication satellites were still a long way off, so with the help of telegraph stations, which by the end of the 19th century were located in almost all major cities Russian Empire, the uniform time was set using the chronometer of the General Staff. Every morning for telegraph operators throughout the country began with the signal “Listen” from the Winter Palace, five minutes later the command “Clock” and “walkers” across the country started simultaneously.

October 1869 - Telegraph station on Myasnitskaya Street.

In connection with the construction of the Moscow city telegraph network (a network of city telegraph stations), the telegraph station from the Kremlin was moved first to Gazetny Lane, and then to a specially adapted building on Myasnitskaya Street, next to the Post Office. Since the 1880s, the station began to use devices from Baudot, Siemens, Klopfer, Creed, as well as teletypes. In December 1898, a call center for the first, longest in Russia, long-distance telephone line St. Petersburg-Moscow was equipped in the building of the Moscow Central Telegraph Station.

An example of a perforated tape.

At the same time, in the middle of the 19th century, Charles Wheatstone developed a device with perforated tape, which increased the speed of the telegraph to 1,500 characters per minute - on special machines, operators typed messages, which were then printed on tape. And it was this that was then loaded into the telegraph for sending through communication channels. This was much more convenient and economical - one telegraph line could work almost around the clock (later, in the 70s of the 20th century, GRU special forces encryption machines worked on the same principle, “spitting out” an encrypted message in a fraction of a second). A little earlier, in 1850, the Russian scientist B. Jacobi created a direct-printing machine, which was brought to perfection by the American D. Hughes in 1855.

The telegraph operator's workplace on a Bodo-duplex machine - to print on five keys, he used two hands - two fingers on the left hand and three on the right, the combinations had to be pressed simultaneously and quickly.

The Baudot device operates in duplex mode (in total, up to six working stations could be connected to one transmitter) - the response data was printed on paper tape, which had to be cut and pasted onto the form.

The telegraph signal amplification point for the Baudot apparatus was placed at a distance of 600-800 km from the transmitting center in order to “drive” the signal further: to work, it was necessary to synchronize the electricity in two channels and carefully monitor the information transmission parameters.

Control panel of the telegraph signal amplification point for the Baudot apparatus.

Demonstration of the Baudot apparatus.

Another acceleration of technical thought occurred in 1872, when the Frenchman E. Baudot created a device that made it possible to transmit several telegrams simultaneously over one line, and the data was no longer received in the form of dots and dashes (before that, all such systems were based on Morse code), and in the form of letters of the Latin and Russian (after careful revision by domestic specialists) languages. The Baudot apparatus and those created on its principle are called start-stop apparatus. In addition, Baudot created a very successful telegraph code (Baudot Code), which was subsequently adopted everywhere and received the name International Telegraph Code No. 1 (ITA1). The modified version of the code is called ITA2. In the USSR, based on ITA2, the telegraph code MTK-2 was developed. Further modifications to the design of the start-stop telegraph apparatus proposed by Baudot led to the creation of teleprinters (teletypes). The unit of information transmission speed, the baud, was named in honor of Baudot.

Telegraph in the Russian Empire and the USSR

The beginning of the 20th century for telegraph communications in Russia can be considered a full-fledged Golden Age. Half a century after the opening of the first telegraph, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as other large cities of the Empire, many telegraph offices were opened, distributed according to territorial criteria. The media have the opportunity to release operational news, which is reported by correspondents from the scene. For the central telegraph, located here since 1870, a separate floor is being built in the post office building on Myasnitskaya and about 300 communication lines from all over the country are connected there - now the Main Post Office of Moscow is located there. Communication between the telegram reception department and the computer room with the telegraph machines displayed there was carried out with the help of couriers - boys aged 10-12 had to run for several hours between floors with telegraph forms.

The main working hall of the telegraph on Myasnitskaya in Moscow.

During the First World War in Russian army The newly created communications units, which were engaged in establishing telephone and telegraph lines, performed well. By the beginning of the war, in 1914, the highest military engineering unit was a battalion - in the Russian army there was one engineer battalion per infantry or cavalry corps. Moreover, out of the four companies of the battalion, one was telegraph. At the end of 1916, the Russian High Command created for each corps an entire engineering regiment of two battalions - an engineer (two engineer companies and one road-bridge) and a technical (two telegraph companies and one searchlight), as well as a field engineering fleet. Infantry divisions received an engineering company, consisting of two half-companies, a telegraph department and a park platoon.

A rare portable telegraph - such models have been used in combat units since the days of Russo-Japanese War 1905.

All devices had a personal number and release date; V in this case- 1904.

Practice of working a portable field telegraph based on Morse code.

With the establishment of Soviet power on the territory of the country, a significant part of the telegraph communication lines was given to party bodies, the NKVD, the army and the people's commissariats. In addition, the top of the People's Commissariat of Communications was staffed by state security officers - communications, even in peacetime, was a strategic area that needed to be protected and controlled. That is why, in the seventh year of Soviet power, the Central Committee decided to build a special building for the telegraph. It was supposed to be located near the Kremlin and the First House of the People's Commissariat of Defense (a special 4-story building was built there for military communications), house a long-distance communication station (at that time a very valuable thing), the entire People's Commissariat of Communications, as well as a central telegraph station. This is how the historical building of the Central Telegraph arose, occupying an entire city block on Tverskaya, 7 (previously it was Gorky Street).

Memorial plaque about the construction of the Central Telegraph building.

The bulk of the Central Telegraph, 1948.

Modern view of the Central Telegraph 82 years after the start of construction.

Scheme of operation of pneumatic mail for sorting telegraph messages.

The building was erected with a large margin of safety ( Special attention was paid to the protection of communication lines in underground communications) and in record short time- construction took a year and a half and ended in 1927. The style of the building has various interpretations, but one of the most common is the transition from modernism to constructivism. The total area of the premises is 60 thousand square meters. m. For about two years the telegraph was equipped various equipment, the arrangement of work premises was underway (four internal mail systems alone were installed, including pneumatic mail). Officially, the new building on Tverskaya was called the “House of Communications named after V.N. Podbelsky”, but sometimes it lost out to the unofficial one - “Mechanized Palace”. Here the use of direct-printing machines by A.F. Shorin and L.I. Treml began, and from 1937 the domestic ST-35 direct-printing machine began to be introduced.

The advent of telegraphs was a breakthrough in the development of technology. With its help, it was possible to transmit various signals and messages. In what year was the telegraph invented? Who is its author? Find out about this in the article.

Origins

Man, as a social being, has always needed to communicate with his own kind. Even in ancient times, from the moment people united into small groups, there was a need to create a signaling system. She conveyed a message warning of danger.

Thus, one of the oldest methods of signal transmission is sound. They warned about the approach of enemies by imitating the sounds of wildlife, for example, the chirping of birds, the cries of an owl. Sounds were also made using a horn or musical instruments. Another effective remedy transmitting a signal is fire. Even today it can be useful for tourists who get lost in deep forests.

As society developed, a more efficient and innovative way of transmitting signals was required. And he appeared. Next, let's try to figure out who invented the telegraph. The term telegraph means a means of transmitting a signal through communication channels. Such channels can be radio waves or wires. The name of the term comes from the words of the ancient Greek language - tele and grapho, which translates as “far” and “I write”. The terms "telephone" and "telex" have similar origins.

Who first invented the telegraph?

The first telegraph was optical. It is not known exactly who invented the telegraph. Printed articles about this mechanism began to appear quite early. But among those who invented the telegraph is certainly the English scientist Hooke. He demonstrated his device back in 1684. The mechanism was based on movable rulers and circles that were visible from great distances.

A heliograph was used as an optical telegraph. It was first installed in 1778 between the observatories of Greenwich and Paris. Usually the heliograph was located on a tripod, and inside it there was a small mirror. The signal was transmitted using flashes of light, which were received when the device was tilted. It is difficult to name the author of this device, but the invention was popular among the military even in the 19th century.

Semaphore

In 1792, the Frenchman Claude Chappe invented a mechanism similar to the heliograph. The signal was transmitted thanks to the light emitted by the semaphore. Several identical tall buildings were located within sight of each other. They contained semaphores and people operating them.

Already in 1794, 22 stations with semaphores were installed on the route from Paris to Lille. It took approximately 2 minutes to transmit one signal. This signaling system has become very popular. Other stations were soon built. The signal was transmitted much more accurately than that of a beacon and a smoke signal.

Shapp invented special system codes The semaphore had horizontal strips. Moving apart or connecting, they formed a certain figure, each of which corresponded to a letter of the alphabet. Two words could be conveyed in one minute.

Electric telegraph

At the end of the 18th century, researchers and inventors studied the properties of electricity. The idea appears to apply it to the telegraph. In 1774, Georg Lesage created the first electrostatic telegraph. Later, Samuel Semmering invents an electrochemical mechanism, with gas bubbles inside.

In 1832, Pavel Schilling became the one who invented the electromagnetic telegraph. Five magnetic needles were suspended from silk threads and moved inside coils wrapped in wire. The direction of the current determined the direction in which the magnetic needle moved. Both letters and numbers could be transmitted.

Immediately after Schilling, a series of identical inventions followed from the Germans Gauss and Weber and the Englishmen Cook and Watson. But the patent for the electromagnetic telegraph went to Samuel Morse, since it was not a switch, but mechanical type. Later, the inventor came up with the world-famous signal code - Morse code.

Phototelegraph

A physicist from Scotland has moved several steps forward at once. Alexander Bain was the first to invent a telegraph capable of transmitting images. The device appeared in 1843 and was called “phototelegraph”. He is rightfully considered the progenitor of the fax.

The Italian Caselli creates a device similar to Bain’s invention and begins mass production. A special varnish transferred the image or drawing onto lead foil. The machine read the elements and transferred them onto paper using an electrochemical method. Later models of phototelegraphs were even used to produce geographic maps.

Wireless telegraph

In 1895, a completely new type of telegraph was demonstrated in Russia, called a “lightning detector.” Who invented the wireless telegraph? The author of the invention was a famous scientist. The main task of the mechanism was to register radio waves produced by a thunderstorm front.

In fact, it was the world's first radio receiver. By improving the model of the first “lightning detector”, it was possible to achieve that the signal, encrypted in Morse code, was transmitted directly to the headphones to the receiving side. Popov's device was successfully used to communicate between ships and the shore. It has found wide application in military affairs.

New era

A new stage in the development of telegraphs began in 1872, after the invention of the start-stop telegraph by Jean Baudot. Thanks to him, it became possible to transmit several messages in one direction at once.

In 1930, the Baudot apparatus was supplemented with dialers on disks. They were similar to the dial dials we were used to on old telephones. Now it was possible to specify the subscriber to whom the message was intended. This device was called “telex”. Many countries around the world began to create national subscriber systems for telegraphy. Such networks have appeared, for example, in Germany, Great Britain, and the USA.

Currently, telegraph communication still exists. But of course innovative technologies long ago they replaced it in the place of “retrosystems”.

The electromechanical typewriter, which was used to transmit text messages (analogous to today's SMS) over a two-wire line - the telegraph - was invented long before the advent of other means of communication. Now telegraphs are used very rarely, but at one time this device made a revolution in the field of information transmission. Let's consider his story.

The prototype of the world's first telegraph can be considered the invention of Claude Chaf - an optical telegraph or, as the inventor himself called it, a heliograph. And although the heliograph had nothing to do with electronics - messages were transmitted using light and a system of mirrors - the idea was still in the right direction. The inventor even came up with his own symbols, with the help of which messages were transmitted between two fairly distant points.

The idea of the first electric telegraph in 1753 put forward by Scottish scientist Charles Maurice. He proposed laying many wires isolated from each other between two points, and transmitting messages through them. By the way, the number of individual conductors should have been equal to the number of letters in the alphabet, or at least the most necessary set of letters for communication. In this case, the message was transmitted by applying an electric charge through wires to metal balls. The telegraph operator had to notice which of the balls attracted this moment small items, and which one is not and thus decode the sent message.

And although Morrison was never able to bring his invention to fruition, the idea was picked up by other scientists and inventors. So in 1774 Geneva physicist Georg Lesage built the first fully functional telegraph using Morrison technology. Eight years later, he was the first to propose laying cables for telegraph communications not just underground, but in clay pipes. That is, Lesange can also be considered the inventor of one of the cable laying methods.

But the problem with multi-wire telegraphs was that even a simple message of several sentences would take more than two hours for the operator to transmit. What can we say about the errors that inevitably arise with this method.

Only in 1809 German scientist Samuel Thomas Semmering from Munich, after a series of discoveries in the field of electronics by Alessandro Volta, created the telegraph, the work of which was based on chemical exposure electric current on substances.

In 1832 Russian scientist Pavel Lvovich Schilling creates the first electromagnetic telegraph. Its design consisted of 6 magnetic needles suspended on silk threads and placed inside inductors. As a result of passing through one of the coils electric current, the arrow moved either up or down depending on its direction. A cardboard disk, in turn, was connected to it, which rotated when the arrow moved. Around the same time, German physicists introduced their telegraph

Telegraph is a set of methods that allow you to transmit text symbols, writing, and messages over long distances. It is assumed that both parties know the rules for exchanging information, certain rules transcripts. For example, a railway worker understands semaphore signals, drivers understand traffic lights. These are the simplest examples of the principle of operation of the telegraph. Historically, people used smoke, beacons, and reflected light from a mirror.

Term

The words were introduced by the French inventor of the semaphore, Claude Chappe (semaphore, telegraph). Nowadays the term usually refers to an electrical type of device. Wireless telegraphy involves carrier modulation, as opposed to Hertz's earlier spark gap observation technique. Contradicting Chappe, Morse pointed out the appropriateness of using the term to designate systems transmitting/recording messages. The smoke should then be considered a semaphore.

The transmitted message began to be called a telegram. A separate line is Telex, which arrived via the network.

Story

According to Morse terminology, the telegraph was invented by Pavel Schilling. Early models sent dot-dash signals, the symbols of a typewriter.

Optical telegraph

The first optical telegraph was built by Robert Hook (1684) for the Royal Society of Great Britain. The experiments were continued by Sir Richard Lowell Edgeworth (1767). Chappe's 1793 semaphore network operated for half a century. The French Revolution contributed a lot to the popularity of the invention, requiring a reduction in the time it took to transmit government messages. On March 2, 1791, at 11 am, the first message was sent, covering 16 km: “If you continue, you will soon be covered in glory.”

The simple design contained an observation telescope and a pair of black and white panels. The operator, leafing through the code book, wrote down the letters. A year later, Claude was tasked with laying the 230 km long Paris-Lille line. The idea is intended to simplify the management of the Austrian war. In 1794, the line brought news: Condé-sur-l'Escaut had capitulated. 1 hour spent.

The Prussians are shocked by the possibilities new system, building their own lines (1830s). The operability of the telegraph was determined by weather conditions and time of day. The delivery speed was two to three words every minute. The last coastal variant was buried by Sweden (1880). France continued to use the invention, entrusting the semaphore to sailors who wanted to convey a message to the shore. The advantages of the technique are undoubted:

No energy costs, including solar. The system successfully withstands cloudy weather.
Speed will give 100% handicap points to messengers (swimmers).

Electric telegraph

The first recycling idea beneficial properties electricity was published by Scott's Magazine (1753). Enthusiasts proposed assigning an individual wire to each letter of the alphabet (at that time they used silk threads). The source of electricity was a static generator. Early receiving devices used the phenomenon of charge interaction. The idea, devoid of prospects, was left to collect dust in the archive.

George-Louis le Sag built (1774) twenty years later, according to the note, the first electrostatic model. 26 wires made it possible to read the letters to people occupying adjacent rooms.

A new impetus to the development of this direction was given by Volta’s invention of electrolytic current sources. The German scientist Thomas von Soemmering (1809) improved the design of the mathematician Francisco Salva Campillo. Both accommodated 35 parallel wires, continuing the idea described above. The new product jokingly covered a distance of a couple of kilometers.

The receiving side, equipped with electrolytic flasks, observed hydrogen bubbles. The retort number corresponded to a letter or number. Visual observation helped the operator carrying the outfit to record the message transmitted by the bubbles. The bitrate left much to be desired.

A suitable model was built by the English inventor Francis Ronalds (1816). The family estate (Hammersmith Mall) was decorated with a 175-yard ditch. The 8 mile segment outside was by air. The invention presented to the Admiralty was assessed as “completely useless.” Ronalds's written description of the telegraph and some other electrical apparatus is considered to be by far the first manuscript on the subject. Along the way, Francis examined the retardation of signals, provoked by induction then unknown to science.

Peter Strikes Back

Russian diplomat Pavel Schilling demonstrated (1832) the remote transmission of messages between adjacent rooms. A notable point was the use of character encryption: an attempt to reduce the number of connecting wires. The role of receivers was played by 6 multipliers, connecting lines became 8:

Signal.
Returnable.
6 informational.

Gradually, the inventor figured out to replace the alphabetic code with a digital one. New edition The device contained 2 copper wires. The British government (1836) tried to buy the patent. The inventor rejects the foreign offer, accepting the conditions of Nicholas I. The length of the next line erected was 5 kilometers, connecting the Admiralty building, the royal palace of Peterhof, and the Kronstadt naval base for official correspondence. The project ended with the death of the inventor.

Interesting! Earlier (1821), Adnre-Marie Ampère expressed the idea of implementing a telegraph using rotating frames that controlled a Schweigger galvanometer. According to the scientist, he experimentally tested his own ideas. Peter Barlow (1824) repeated the steps taken by Ampère, finding the maximum distance achieved of 200 meters unpromising.

Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber created (1833, Göttingen) the first electromagnetic telegraph, which united the observatory and the Institute of Physics, separated by a space of 1 km. Schilling used rotating frames, similar to Schweigger's design. German scientists used a real electromagnetic relay formed by a coil of wire. The elements of the code were positive and negative directions of current flow. Gradually, the transmission of information began to be encoded in pulses, increasing the speed. Scientists sponsored by Alexander von Humboldt continued their work, the first working model was built by Karl August Steinel (Munich - 1835-1836, then the first German railway).

Commercial success

The Americans carried out developments in parallel. Some accuse David Alter of plagiarism. The doctor answered the reporter: “I find it difficult to notice the connection between Morse’s invention and telegraph communication Elderton. The professor also probably hasn't heard anything about local remedies transmission of messages."

Samuel Morse patented (1837) an electric writing telegraph. Assistant engineer Alfred Whale developed a recorder: a stylus controlled by a magnet. Together, the searchers generated a new code. On January 11, 1838, Morse sent a message that traveled 3 km of wire.

This is interesting! The Internet is full of misconceptions that the first bird was the biblical phrase WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT? The said message dates back to 1844. At that time, the length of the telegraph network was 44 km.

May 1837 gave the planet the first paid service for sending messages. William Fothergill Cook and Charles Wheatstone patented the six-wire needle telegraph. The system could include an arbitrary number of sharpened steel rods. The inventors recommended using 5 pieces. The four-needle model connected two areas of London. On July 25, 1837, a successful demonstration took place. Gauss made his way with sponsored money - Cook and Wheatstone made money by selling patented models.

The laid underground cable soon died: an insulation breakdown. The product was replaced with a single core that lacked coating. The device has been modernized. After the reduction, 2 needles remained, the length of the code increased. The next installation (Slough, 1843) contained a two-wire cable, making do with a single tip. The first commercial success attracted the attention of enthusiasts, providing the industry with a steady increase in innovation.

Morse code

It took 20 years for the new code to conquer the USA, finishing off the Pony Express on October 24, 1861 by crossing the continent through the line. Soon, every post office acquired a copy of the new service delivery system. Businessmen saw a wide range of tasks:

Increase transfer speed.
Reduce cost.
Reduce the amount of manual labor.

Helped fire telegraph operators ABC method Wheatstone (1840). The inventor placed the letters around the watch dial. The receiving needle selected the desired one. The recipient client just had to write down the result. The speed has reached the limit of 15 words/min.

New achievements

Alexander Bain patented (Edinburgh, 1846) the chemical telegraph. The current moved a steel stylus across paper soaked in a mixture of ammonium nitrate and potassium ferrocyanide. The resulting blue markers repeated the transmitted Morse code. The maximum speed was 1000 words/min. The message was deciphered by the operator. The novelty came to an end: the angry Morse group sued the patent.

In parallel, Royal Earl House developed a printing system containing a keyboard. The receiving party automatically generated a paper message. The stated speed was 2600 words/hour. There was a steam version from 1852.

The idea was taken up by David Edward Hagis. The keyboard, containing 26 characters, has won universal recognition. The technique was distinguished by enviable accuracy. The next novelty made us wait, revealing general satisfaction with the existing state of affairs. Emile Baudot (1874) introduced his own encoding. The symbol was transmitted by the position of five switches. The speed was 30 words/min.

Charles Wheatstone finally automated the process by inventing punched paper tape. The device, artlessly called the Stick Punch, resembled a typewriter. The operator sat down, typed out the message, straightened the tape, and handed it over to the receiving party. The speed reached 70 words/min.

Telex printers

Printing devices were late. The first successful version is considered to be the invention of Frederick Creed (1924). The engineer produced a number of innovative mechanisms, including a tape puncher. The propellant was compressed air. Automated system sprinkled 200 words every minute, rivaling the 19th century chemical model. An employee of Creed's company, Donald Murray, modified Baudot's code, taking out the corresponding patent. Soon the P3 model (1927) won post offices. The Daily Mail became interested in the system, and an adapted version of the hammer drill was released.

Advanced Teletype systems have taken over airports, delivering official messages and weather forecasts. By 1938, the network covered the entire United States, excluding the states of Maine, South Dakota, and New Hampshire. Creed occupied Britain, Siemens occupied Germany. The recipient was selected according to a standard telephone number (pulse dialing). A new class of devices was called telexes.

Through multiplexing, one line could accommodate a maximum of 25 machines. Telex has become a reliable means of long-distance communication.

Atlantic cable

The idea to connect the continents was born in parallel with the inventions of Henry and Wheatstone. The founder is considered to be Morse (1840). Scientists were looking for a suitable insulator that could protect the copper core. Scottish surgeon William Montgomery proposed (1842) gutta-percha, the sticky juice of a Malaysian plant. Faraday and Wheatstone immediately confirmed the insulating qualities of the material. It was decided to build the Dover-Calais line. Testing (1849) was successful at the base of the Rhine River.

First steps: the birth of an idea

John Watkins Brett received Louis Philippe's approval to build a line connecting England and France. The work was completed by 1850. The route was extended to Ireland. In parallel, Bishop John Malloch, head of the Roman catholic church Newfoundland drew a line through the forest, providing the diocese with communications. The next project of the followers of Christ crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The priest's efforts inspired Frederick Newton of Gisborne. The inventor received (1851) a grant from the legitimate power of the island, having formed a company, he expressed the idea to Cyrus West Field. Thus the idea of conquering the Atlantic was born.

Development of installation methods

In the 40s of the 19th century, individual enthusiasts cherished the hope of connecting the shores of America and Europe with a copper vein. Among others, Edward Thornton, Alonzo Jackman. Cyrus consulted Morse. Then he became interested in Lieutenant Matthew Maury, who was knowledgeable in oceanography. Afterwards, Field notified companies in Newfoundland, the USA, and Great Britain, proposing to organize an oceanic telegraph.

The next project (1854) pursued a bold idea - to conquer the Atlantic. The entertainers quickly realized the lack of funding. It was necessary to organize a society to raise funds. The first step was an attempt (1855) to conquer the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bark was laying the cable regularly, but a storm interfered: he had to urgently cut it, saving people’s lives. The following summer the ship successfully completed its plans. Field, having appointed Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer, made up his mind.

Transatlantic company

On November 6, 1856, entrepreneurs created the Atlantic Telegraph Company (London), which was engaged in the construction of an underwater highway designed to bring such distant shores of the United States closer, at least in terms of the speed of news transmission. The 1858 attempt was successful. The line was broken by people passing messages.

A kilometer of cable formed by seven copper cores weighed 26 kg. Covered with three layers of gutta-percha - almost three times heavier. The insulator was protected from the outside by a hemp stocking; the armor was served by a close spiral of 18 twisted steel strands. The final weight was 550 kg/km. Two manufactories were engaged in production:

Glass, Elliott & Co. (Greenwich).
R.S. Newval and Co (Birkenhead).

Later it was revealed: individual sections were wound in opposite directions. This deviation from technology was deliberately exaggerated to the public after a cable failure caused by exceeding the permissible electrical voltage. The English government contributed £1,400 by providing the ship. The next (after the first failure) fundraising lasted 8 years. On July 28, 1866, the service began working. General chronology:

This is interesting! The electrical destruction of the first successfully laid cable was carried out by Wildman Whitehouse. The scientist tried to significantly increase the voltage, hoping to increase the speed. They announced to the public: the manufacturer, warehouses, and third parties are to blame.

Personal opinion outweighs intelligence

The engineers' efforts attracted the attention of scientists who wanted to study the problems of signal transmission along long lines. Simply put, the men of science were simply forced to give an answer. The problem was compounded by differences between two chief engineers, separated by an ocean, over how the cable should work:

Lord Kelvin, who grabbed the western end, considered it unacceptable to increase the voltage. Instead, pulsed transmission was proposed with detection at the leading edge of the flowing current. Kelvin invented the differential galvanometer-recorder earlier.
Whitehouse, who occupied the eastern end, had a medical background. Knowledge of electricity left much to be desired. The doctor, literally interpreting Ohm's law, heeding Kelvin's advice, decided to increase the voltage. The assistants quickly took out an induction coil, providing a potential difference of several thousand volts. The insulation of the sea thread endured torture for several days, then the system finally broke down. Negative public reaction froze further work for 7 years.

Great Eastern

The 1865 project was carried out by the Great Eastern. Three tanks contained 4,300 km of cable, and the deck was equipped with special equipment. On the morning of July 15, 1865, the ship left the bay of Valentia Island. On the 31st, 1968 km were covered, the sailors lost their end... The steamer sounded its trumpet for England, Field organized a new enterprise - the Anglo-American Telegraph Company. Having collected money, the Grand Orient set sail on July 13, 1866. Defying the vagaries of the weather, on the 27th the team successfully reached the opposite shore. The next morning (9:00) the English report was quoted in the Times editorials.