Samuel Morse — Questions and answers

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What was the very first message Samuel Morse sent using his telegraph?

Choices

  1. "Hello world!"
  2. "What hath God wrought?" ✓
  3. "A new era begins."
  4. "Baltimore to D.C."

Answer: "What hath God wrought?"

From page 1

What was Samuel Morse's profession before he got the idea for the telegraph?

Choices

  1. A doctor
  2. A mechanic
  3. A renowned painter ✓
  4. A politician

Answer: A renowned painter

From page 2

What did Samuel Morse realize would be essential to send electrical signals over very long distances?

Choices

  1. A bigger battery
  2. A different kind of ship
  3. A repeating mechanism, a relay ✓
  4. A new drawing technique

Answer: A repeating mechanism, a relay

From page 3

What kind of materials did Samuel Morse use to build his first prototype telegraph?

Choices

  1. Expensive factory parts
  2. Everyday materials like an old canvas stretcher and clockwork gears ✓
  3. Parts from a broken clock tower
  4. Items ordered from a science store

Answer: Everyday materials like an old canvas stretcher and clockwork gears

From page 4

Who was Alfred Vail, and what important idea did he have for the telegraph code?

Choices

  1. He was a professor who helped with the science.
  2. He was a politician who found money for the project.
  3. He was a mechanic who helped make the code faster by making frequent letters shorter. ✓
  4. He was another painter who helped design the machine.

Answer: He was a mechanic who helped make the code faster by making frequent letters shorter.

From page 5

What was the biggest challenge Samuel Morse faced after he built a working prototype of his telegraph?

Choices

  1. Making the wires even stronger
  2. Finding more people to work with him
  3. Getting money and support from the government ✓
  4. Learning how to ride a horse faster

Answer: Getting money and support from the government

From page 6

How much money was Samuel Morse hoping to get from Congress to build an experimental telegraph line?

Choices

  1. 10,000
  2. 30,000 ✓
  3. 50,000
  4. 100,000

Answer: 30,000

From page 7

What did a young radio operator call Morse Code when learning it decades later?

Choices

  1. An old, useless machine
  2. The grandparent of all our electronic communication ✓
  3. A simple toy
  4. A forgotten invention

Answer: The grandparent of all our electronic communication

From page 10