Down to the Wire Trivia Quiz

Answer: He was an artist.

Samuel Morse (1791-1872) established his reputation as a painter--particularly of portraits. His works include portraits of US presidents John Adams and James Monroe. Morse also painting "Dying Hercules" and "Judgment of Jupiter". Morse studied painting for several years in London under the tutelage of artist Washington Allston. Morse was a co-founder of the National Academy of Design and served as its first president.

Answer: The death of his wife.

Morse was married to Lucretia Walker from 1818 to 1825. Lucretia Morse died shortly after the birth of Samuel and Lucretia's third child. Morse was in Washington, DC working on a commission in 1825 when he received a letter from his father that his wife was very ill.

The next day a second letter arrived that said his wife had died. Morse immediately left from Washington, DC to return to his home in Connecticut. By the time he arrived, his wife had already been buried.

Answer: Electromagnetism

Morse was inspired by Jackson's experiments with an electromagnet (a magnet whose magnetism is produced by an electrical current). Charles Thomas Jackson (1805-1880) was an American scientist who also studied medicine, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology.

He was also known for his legal disputes over development of several technologies and scientific ideas including the telegraph). In the 1830s and 1840s he served as state geologist for several New England states.

Answer: National Museum of American History

The National Museum of American History is part of the Smithsonian Institution. When I visited Locust Grove in 2007, there was a model of Morse's telegraph in an exhibit in the visitor's center, but it was a replica. Morse would spend several years in legal and publicity battles to be considered the inventor of the telegraph.

In an 1848 letter (quoted from Wikipedia), he described this struggle: "I have been so constantly under the necessity of watching the movements of the most unprincipled set of pirates I have ever known, that all my time has been occupied in defense, in putting evidence into something like legal shape that I am the inventor of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph! Would you have believed it ten years ago that a question could be raised on that subject?"

Answer: New Jersey in 1838

The demonstration took place in a factory building in Morristown, NJ. Morse and his associate Alfred Vail ran two miles of wire through the facility (about the limit that a telegraph message could be sent without a relay). A local crowd witnessed the sending of the message: "A patient waiter is no loser."

Answer: Britain

Although they started later, Cooke and Wheatstone were able to develop a working telegraph before Morse. By 1837 they had a 13 mile telegraph operating along the Great Western Railway in Great Britain. Morse's telegraph system was ultimately less expensive than the one developed by Cooke and Wheatstone, however, and would spread worldwide.

Answer: A message of congratulations to the US President

The Trans-Atlantic Cable was laid in 1858 under the leadership of Cyrus West Field and the Atlantic Cable Company. The first successful cable only lasted a few weeks and messages were sent very slowly, but by 1866 a permanent cable had been placed and sending times had improved.

The 1858 message was from Queen Victoria's government to US President James Buchanan. The other three events all occurred in later years. The US Civil War began in 1861. The first "football" game between Princeton and Rutgers occured in 1869. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1876.

Answer: Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD

The 38 mile route of Morse's telegraph line between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD along the right of way for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This is near where today's Route 1 runs between the two cities. The first message sent on the telegraph was word that Henry Clay had received the Whig Party nomination for President and the Whig Party convention that was meeting in Baltimore, MD on May 1, 1844.

The telegraph was officially opened on May 23 with the Biblical phrase "What has God wrought?" (Numbers 23:23)

Answer: He was appointed US Secretary of the Interior.

Morse's portrait appeared on the reverse the 1896 US Silver Certificate (in the two dollar denomination). In 1940, his portrait appeared on a two cent stamp in the Great Americans series. In 1975, he was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Although he had very defined views on many political and social issues of the day, he was never appointed to any cabinet position in any US Presidential administration.

Answer: SOS

The "dash" signal is three times as long as the "dot" signal. The pause between letters is as long as a "dash". The pause between words is slightly over twice as long as a "dash". The letter "E" (the most common letter in English) is represented by a single "dot".

The "SOS" signal is not considered three letters when it is sent as a distress signal. Instead, it is sent without pauses. "SOS" was chosen because of the relative ease in sending the message.