Writing with Lightning

WRITING WITH LIGHTNING
Wonder and Magic of Telegraph Codes

Lightning is fast. Could information and messages also travel in an instant? Long before the speed of light was established, semaphore flags, signal fires and loud sounds conveyed news for those within range of sight and hearing. Throughout time, diverse cultures developed ways to further speed up message transmission and reception over long distances. Information was carried by ship, swift runners moving in relays, or by carrier pigeons, canoeists, horse riders, or bottles with notes. But quick-as-lightning communication over expansive territory, nations and continents remained a dream. In the early 1800s, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail elaborated on known coding methods, connecting the world through electromagnetic telegraphy. President Lincoln referred to telegraphy as "lightning messages." Writing with lightning became the realization and conduit of instantaneous global communication. Join author Thomas Wayne King as he connects historic dots, dashes and signals to continuing new uses for....and the wonder and magic of telegraph codes.