Menu
Idea

telegraph

48
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Victorian telegraph operator.

What Mark Zuckerberg Should Learn From 19th-Century Telegraph Operators

No, really.
by Megan Ward via Slate on May 27, 2024
Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan and Paul Newman in the 1973 movie ‘The Sting,’ in which con artists use wiretapping to gamble on a horse race.

The Wiretappers Who Invented a High-Tech Crime

Before Americans worried about government or corporate surveillance, 19th-century criminals took advantage of a new technology to steal valuable information.
by Brian Hochman via The Wall Street Journal on March 31, 2022

Prophets of War

Telegraph operators were the first to know news of the Civil War.
by Jason Phillips via Lapham’s Quarterly on October 23, 2018
President John F. Kennedy, his wife, Jackie, and their son John Jr. on his Christening day, Dec. 8, 1960.

A Thread for Auld Lang Syne

On Twitter's new 280-character limit.
by Yoni Appelbaum via Twitter on September 26, 2017
The ceremony for the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869.

The Birth of Breaking News

On May 10th, 1869, the entire nation was waiting for the moment a silver hammer struck a golden spike, creating the first massive breaking news story.
by Aric Allen via YouTube on June 14, 2015
Oil painting by Samuel F. B. Morse titled "The Muse: Susan Walker Morse."

Jilted: Samuel F. B. Morse at Art’s End

The rejection that ended Morse's art career eventually led to the invention of the telegraph.
by Paul Staiti via Panorama on June 18, 2024
Painting of a valley with storm clouds

Storm Patrol

Life as a Signal Corps weatherman was dangerous: besides inclement weather, they faced labor riots, conflicts with Native Americans, yellow fever outbreaks, fires, and more.
by Alyson Foster via Humanities on October 11, 2023
Typewriters on table at Milwaukee QWERTYFest

How Milwaukee Is Celebrating the Typewriter’s Long, Local History

150 years of typewriter history in the city that invented the QWERTY keyboard.
by Jennifer Byrne via Atlas Obscura on July 5, 2023
Dark painting of a storm

Reading the Horizon

Predicting a hurricane in nineteenth-century South Carolina.
by Caroline Grego via Lapham’s Quarterly on November 30, 2022
Black and white image of Arlington radio towers

When Arlington Set the Nation's Clocks: The Arlington Radio Towers

A century ago, Arlington was home to one of the most powerful radio stations in history, which helped to usher in an era of wireless communications.
by Henry Kokkeler via Boundary Stones on May 23, 2022
Person making call in telephone booth.

The Making of the Surveillance State

The public widely opposed wiretapping until the 1970s. What changed?
by Andrew Lanham via The New Republic on April 21, 2022

Jubilee Jim Fisk and the Great Civil War Score

In 1865, a failed stockbroker tries to pull off one of the boldest financial schemes in American history: the original big short.
by David K. Thomson via Boston Globe Magazine on April 22, 2020
Drawing of a lightbulb illuminating an inventor's laboratory.

The Real Nature of Thomas Edison’s Genius

The inventor did not look for problems in need of solutions; he looked for solutions in need of modification.
by Casey N. Cep via The New Yorker on October 21, 2019

Simply Elegant, Morse Code Marks 175 Years and Counting

The code has undergone minor changes since its creation, but its use persists to this day.
by Eddie King via The Conversation on May 21, 2019

Why We Say "OK"

How a cheesy joke from the 1830s became one of the most widely spoken words in the world.
by Coleman Lowndes via Vox on September 12, 2018
partner

Why We Need Government to Safeguard Against the New Robber Barons

Competition among media companies is crucial to democracy.
by Gregory Church via Made By History on July 31, 2018
Telephone from 1896

Want to Guess When the First Telephone Appeared in Literature?

It's probably further back than you think.
by Mark Lasswell via Weekly Standard on December 21, 2017
James Garfield

The Unexpected Impact of James Garfield's Assassination

On July 2, 1881, less than a year after President James Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States, he was shot by Charles Guiteau.
by Peter Feuerherd, Mike Sewell via JSTOR Daily on July 2, 2017
Map of the transatlantic cable.

The New World Order

The 1850s were a turning point for globalization, from telegraphs to colonization.
by Matthew Karp via Boston Review on September 2, 2016
Binary information.

A Brief History of Character Codes

Character codes have been evolving through multiple systems over multiple centuries, this is the story.
by Steven J. Searle via TRON Web on August 6, 2004
Typewriter

The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From?

The invention’s true origin story has long been the subject of debate.
by Jimmy Stamp, Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on February 25, 2025
Destruction in the aftermath of the Galveston disaster, 1900.

Lessons from America’s Deadliest Natural Disaster

The 1900 Galveston hurricane changed the way we deal with severe weather. But as Hurricane Helene showed, there are still lessons to be learned.
by Teresa Bitler via The Saturday Evening Post on December 2, 2024
A computer, business documents, envelope, and a broadcast tower.

How Tech Giants Make History

AT&T’s early leaders used PR to sway public opinion, casting their monopoly as a public service and obscuring its political roots.
by Richard R. John via Pro-Market on October 10, 2024
John Dudley Sargent standing next to Edith Sargent.
partner

Something We Were Never Meant to See

Finding a story in the ways Robert Ray Hamilton, John Dudley Sargent, and Edith Sargent weren’t quite forgotten. 
by Maura Jane Farrelly via HNN on July 9, 2024
Image of a man distributing newspapers at a post office.

The Post Office and Privacy

We can thank the postal service for establishing the foundations of the American tradition of communications confidentiality.
by Matthew Wills, Anuj Desai via JSTOR Daily on May 19, 2024
Séance with spirit manifestation, 1872, by John Beattie.

Immortalizing Words

Henry James, spiritualism, and the afterlife.
by Ashley C. Barnes via The Hedgehog Review on April 30, 2024
Charles Tiffany superimposed on handwriting and map of the transatlantic cable.

How the Tiffany & Co. Founder Cashed In on the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Craze

Charles Lewis Tiffany bought surplus cable from the venture, turning it into souvenirs that forever linked his name to the telecommunications milestone.
by Robert Klara via Smithsonian on February 15, 2024
original

The Richest Square Mile on Earth

Almost by accident, we find ourselves at the epicenter of the Colorado Gold Rush, which attracted prospectors to the Rockies a decade after the famous bonanza of ‘49.
by Ed Ayers on October 31, 2023
Bison drinking from a pond.

How the Iron Horse Spelled Doom for the American Buffalo

From homesteaders to tourists to the U.S. Army, railroads flooded the Great Plains with people who saw bison as pests, amusements, or opportunities for profit.
by Ken Burns, Dayton Duncan via Literary Hub on October 16, 2023
Banksy's Spy Booth depicting 3 spies listening in to a phone booth.

How the Drug War Convinced America to Wiretap the Digital Revolution

How the FBI's doomed attempt to stop criminal activity conducted via mobile phones shaped the regime of ubiquitous backdoor surveillance under which we live today.
by Brian Hochman via Humanities on January 6, 2023
View More
30 of
48

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History