Episode Details

Samuel Morse was a portrait painter who wanted to be remembered as an artist — and is instead remembered for the telegraph and the code that bears his name. He turned to invention after his wife died while he was away painting and he did not learn of her death for days because news could not travel faster than a horse. The telegraph was born from grief, and it changed human communication more fundamentally than any invention between the printing press and the internet.

This episode traces Morse from his painting career through his wife's death, the telegraph invention, the famous "What hath God wrought" message, and the patent wars that consumed the rest of his life.

• Morse's painting career and the artistic ambitions the telegraph overshadowed
• His wife's death and the communication delay that motivated the telegraph invention
• "What hath God wrought" — the first telegraph message and the communication revolution it launched
• The patent disputes, the credit controversies, and the artist who is remembered only as an inventor