Morse Code Day: how communications have revolutionized and still used in 2025

Samuel Finley Breese Morse, an American painter of portraits and historical scenes, did not imagine that his name would be immortalized in the history of Telecommunications. The personal tragedy marked the beginning of this revolution when, in 1825, Morse received the news of his wife’s death too late due to the limits of existing communication systems. This painful event has aroused the determination to develop a more efficient method to transmit long distance messages.

At the beginning of 1830, Morse began experimenting electromagnetic circuits. Although he missed formal training in electricity, he had the precious collaboration of Alfred Vail y Joseph Henrywho contributed with a crucial technical knowledge to materialize their vision.

Together they developed not only a Code system based on points and stripesBut also the electrical telegraph This would allow its transmission, patented in 1843.

The system designed by Morse was brilliant in its simplicity. Each letter of the alphabet, number and sign of punctuation was represented by a unique combination of short (points) and long (stripes) impulses. The famous “Point-Punto-Punto, Raya-Raya-Raya, Power-Point” you mean It has become the message of universal relief, saving countless lives throughout history.

What was the first message sent?

The first public demonstration of Morse took place in 1844, with the transmission of the message “What did God bring us?” Between Washington DC and Baltimore. This event marked the birth of the era of instantaneous communications, drastically reducing the transmission times of the information that previously depended on horseback lies or ships.

THE The expansion of the Morse code was dizzying. In a few decades, Telegraphic lines crossed continents and oceansconnecting people and nations as never before. Its impact has been extended to several areas: Revolutionary journalism that allows you to report news almost in real timetransformed military operations by facilitating quick tactical communications and catalyzing economic development allowing immediate commercial transactions between distant places.

With the arrival of the twentieth century, Mors Code has found applications in new technologies such as radiobe fundamental in maritime and aeronautical communications. During the world wars, Expert operators able to transmit and receive up to 40 words per minute Have become strategic assets for all the armed forces.

Although digital technologies have gradually replaced the Morse code in many commercial applications, Its simplicity and robustness keep it in force in emergency situations. Radio enthusiasts and enthusiasts of the history of communications continue to practice it, preserving this cultural heritage.

Curiosity about the Morse code

• The English origin of the Morse code leaves Letter “ñ” without one’s symbol. However, it is transmitted and used as a concatenation of “n” e “e”, leaving this code: “-.-“.
• Titanic was the first boat to send a message in Morse codeHowever, nothing could be done to avoid its sinking and with it the loss of many lives.
• In 1966, the United States witnessed a Live interview Jeremiah Denton’s PilotWhich was captured in the middle of the Vietnam war and thanks to the Morse code, it could report that it had been tortured only with the movement of his eyelids with which he codified “torture”.
• The terminal code could also be used to make audio and bright signs. It has been so much that during the 90s they were able to see the images in the cartoons showing how the characters communicated through the walls or seats using this means of communication.
• Los The codes were assigned according to the use of characters in English. That’s why the letter “E”, the most common in the English dictionary has only one “. And the letter” T “receives as coding”-“.
• If an error in the shipment is made, the error code to be sent are 6 echoes of “and” grouped two for two: ../../ ..

If you want to practice or learn the Morse code, here we leave the coding of the original letters and numbers knowing that the agreement is that a point is a short code and line: it is long:

The Morse code in cinema and culture

Striped and stripes language has left a significant mark on cinematographic history, appearing as Crucial narrative element in films of various genres and eras.

‘Dams Destroyer’ (United Kingdom, 1955. Director: Michael Anderson) portrays the historical precision The Bold Chastise Operation during the Second World War. In this mission, an elite team of the British Raf, known as “Dam Bustters”, has undertaken one of the most risky and technically complex air raids. The Morse code acquires a crucial role as a means of coordination between the courageous pilots and the central command, allowing to synchronize exactly the attacks on the German strategic prey.

‘The submarine’ (Germany, 1981 The Morse code takes importance as an umbilical cord with the outside world, transmitting both military orders and the increasingly desperate situation in Germany. Radial submarine operators, constantly attentive to their headphones, interpret messages that determine the life or death of the crew.

‘Decifrare enigma’ (United Kingdom, 2014 The film documents the way Turing and his team in Bletchley Park have faced the formidable challenge of deciphering the German enigma code, considered unwavering. His innovative “Christopher” machine, a precursor of modern computers, made it possible to interpret communications in the terminal code intercepted to the enemy, revealing crucial strategic information.

• ‘Parasites’ (South Korea, 2019 At a certain point in the film, the patriarch of the Kim family discovers the messages in the Morse code broadcast by flashing lights, revealing a disturbing reality hidden under the luxurious home of the park.

Has also been part of the Culture pop musical like the opening melody of Rush’s yyz ‘yyz’ song Reproduces the letters “yyz” in the Morse code, since this is the code of Toronto airport, another of the examples is also the Typical sound played by Nokia Mobils during the reception of text messagesGuess? “SMS” code.

The legacy of the Morse code transcends its practical function. Represents One of the first languages ​​specially designed for technologyanticipating fundamental concepts of The digital era as a binary coding. Its development illustrates how the combination of technical innovation and human needs can produce solutions to complex problems.

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And if he is one of those who want to know how his name plays or finding out what the code sounds on the radio really means when a football team scores a goal in a game, we refer To this website Where you can listen to it.